Photo: Billybob2002 · CC BY 4.0Bottineau’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Bottineau County Public Library serves 6,379 people in and around Bottineau. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
What Bottineau’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 86 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Bottineau County Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Bottineau County Public Library serves 6,379 people in and around Bottineau, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bottineau’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bottineau is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Bottineau is graded on two of the three inputs. Bottineau’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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Bottineau
14.5 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 (6 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.
6.5%
6.5% of Bottineau’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical North Dakota 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 Bottineau’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bottineau County Public Library serves 6,379 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bottineau County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
99 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Bottineau County Public Library, 314 West 5th Street, Bottineau.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bottineau County Public Library branch.
New in Bottineau? 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 $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bottineau cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $262K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $374K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $262K 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 2,217 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottineau | Bottineau County Public Library fine-free | — | 49 | A− |
| Whitteron Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pickering 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. Bottineau County Public Library serves 6,379 people in and around Bottineau, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bottineau.
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 Bottineau
Does Bottineau have a public library?
Yes. Bottineau County Public Library, 314 West 5th Street, serves 6,379 people in and around Bottineau (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bottineau County 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 Bottineau’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bottineau’s civic life grade?
A− Bottineau is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Bottineau.
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.