Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0Winona’s library runs 5.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Winona Public Library serves 49,721 people in and around Winona. Last year it lent 214K books, movies and e-books and logged 62K visits.
The short version on Winona’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Winona Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Winona Free Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. Today’s library there has 12,165 square feet. The building ↓
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; Winona Public Library serves 49,721 people in and around Winona, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Winona’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Winona is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #120 of 271 in Minnesota. Winona is graded on two of the three inputs. Winona’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
140 community nonprofits are registered in Winona
5.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Winona’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 Winona’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1977
Winona Public Library, 151 W Fifth Street, Winona.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Winona Public Library branch.
New in Winona? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Winona Free Public Library
Winona Free Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 29, 1977. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classic.
The Winona Public Library is the public library serving Winona, Minnesota, United States. It is a member of Southeastern Libraries Cooperating, a Minnesota library region. Housed in an 1899 Neoclassical building, the Winona Public Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 for having local significance in architecture and education.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Winona Public Library serves 49,721 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 96 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Winona Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
214K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
37,529 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Winona cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 12,614 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winona | Winona Public Library fine-free | — | 43 | B |
| Wilson Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Goodview | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Buffalo | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fountain City | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Homer Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Rollingstone Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Winona Public Library serves 49,721 people in and around Winona, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Winona.
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 Winona
Does Winona have a public library?
Yes. Winona Public Library, 151 W Fifth Street, serves 49,721 people in and around Winona (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Winona 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 Winona’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Winona’s civic life grade?
B Winona is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #120 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 Winona.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.