Photo: August Schwerdfeger · CC BY 4.0Stillwater’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Stillwater Public Library serves Stillwater’s 19,426 residents. Last year it lent 442K books, movies and e-books and logged 133K visits.
What Stillwater’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 62% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 54 items per child in Stillwater last year. Kids & programs ↓
Stillwater uses its library more than almost any town its size
Stillwater Public Library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 21% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 87,000 items on the shelves went out about 4 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Stillwater Public Library logs about 771 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 23 public computers. That’s 14 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Stillwater’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stillwater is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #4 of 271 in Minnesota. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Stillwater’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
188 community nonprofits are registered in Stillwater
9.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
14.2%
14.2% of Stillwater’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical Minnesota town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Stillwater’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Stillwater last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Stillwater Public Library serves 19,426 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 155 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
442K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 87K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4 times last year, on average.
91,099 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Stillwater Public Library, 224 Third Street North, Stillwater.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stillwater? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stillwater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 15,840 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stillwater | Stillwater Public Library fine-free | 22.8 | 55 | A+ |
| Oak Park Heights | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Stillwater Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| St. Joseph | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Houlton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Grant | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Somerset | None of its own | — | — | B− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Stillwater
Does Stillwater have a public library?
Yes. Stillwater Public Library, 224 Third Street North, serves Stillwater’s 19,426 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stillwater Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Stillwater’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 22.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Stillwater’s civic life grade?
A+ Stillwater is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #4 of 271 in Minnesota. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Stillwater.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.