Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Ellendale’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Ellendale Public Library serves Ellendale’s 1,125 residents. Last year it lent 4,774 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,100 visits.
Ellendale’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Ellendale Public Library serves 1,125 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
A place to get online
Ellendale Public Library logs about 35 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 6 public computers. That’s 11 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Runs on less money than most
Ellendale Public Library spends $20 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Ellendale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ellendale is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns. Ellendale’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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Ellendale
23.9 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 (3 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.
4.6%
4.6% of Ellendale’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 Ellendale’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ellendale Public Library serves 1,125 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,774 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
15 programs a year
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 Ellendale last year.
Find it
Ellendale Public Library, 67 1st Ave South, Ellendale.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ellendale? 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 $5.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ellendale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $116K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 317 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Ellendale
Does Ellendale have a public library?
Yes. Ellendale Public Library, 67 1st Ave South, serves Ellendale’s 1,125 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ellendale Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ellendale’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ellendale’s civic life grade?
B− Ellendale is ahead of 49% 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 Ellendale.
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.