Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Fargo’s library logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Fargo Public Library serves Fargo’s 125,990 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 1M books, movies and e-books and logged 445K visits.
Fargo’s library, in brief
Open about 64 hours a week
The main library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 116 items go out. The buildings ↓
Three places to borrow in Fargo
Fargo Public Library runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Fargo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fargo is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #15 of 22 in North Dakota. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #129. Fargo’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 ($50K–$84K) 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 →
537 community nonprofits are registered in Fargo
4.1 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 (102 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 25 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Fargo’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 Fargo’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Fargo Public Library serves 125,990 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 116 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 257K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
344,390 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Fargo last year.
3 places to borrow in Fargo
Fargo Public Library, 102 North 3rd Street, Fargo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fargo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Fargo
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fargo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.5M 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 44,881 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fargo | Fargo Public Library fine-free | 8.3 | 64 | C+ |
| West Fargo | West Fargo Public Library fine-free | 5.8 | 58 | D |
| Moorhead | Moorhead Library | — | 61 | C |
| Stanley Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Reed Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Horace | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Moorhead Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Kurtz Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Frontier | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pleasant Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Briarwood | 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.
- 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 Fargo
Does Fargo have a public library?
Yes. Fargo Public Library, 102 North 3rd Street, serves Fargo’s 125,990 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fargo 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 Fargo’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fargo’s civic life grade?
C+ Fargo is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #15 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 Fargo.
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.