Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Dickinson’s library lends 2.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Dickinson Area Public Library serves 35,297 people in and around Dickinson. Last year it lent 138K books, movies and e-books and logged 77K visits.
Dickinson’s library, in brief
The branch is a National Register landmark
Dickinson (Carnegie Area) Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2008. Today’s library there has 29,040 square feet. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 54% 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; Dickinson Area Public Library serves 35,297 people in and around Dickinson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dickinson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dickinson is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #14 of 22 in North Dakota. Dickinson is graded on two of the three inputs. Dickinson’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($62K–$103K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
129 community nonprofits are registered in Dickinson
5.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (30 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.
5.6%
5.6% of Dickinson’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 Dickinson’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2008
Dickinson Area Public Library, 139 Third Street West, Dickinson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dickinson Area Public Library branch.
New in Dickinson? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Dickinson (Carnegie Area) Public Library
Dickinson (Carnegie Area) Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 31, 2008. It is significant for its architecture, education and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical and Beaux Arts. It was listed as part of Philanthropically Established Libraries in North Dakota MPS.
The Dickinson (Carnegie Area) Public Library on 3rd St. W. in Dickinson, North Dakota was built in 1909 as a Carnegie library, funded by a $12,500 grant. A 1938 expansion was a Works Project Administration project, with design by Louis W. Veigel. It was expanded again in 1975 at cost of in 1975 for $224,541.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dickinson Area Public Library serves 35,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dickinson Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
138K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
49,817 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dickinson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M 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 9,611 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Dickinson Area Public Library serves 35,297 people in and around Dickinson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dickinson.
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 Dickinson
Does Dickinson have a public library?
Yes. Dickinson Area Public Library, 139 Third Street West, serves 35,297 people in and around Dickinson (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dickinson Area 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 Dickinson’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Dickinson’s civic life grade?
C+ Dickinson is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 of 22 in North Dakota. 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 Dickinson.
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.