Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0Garrison’s library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Garrison Public Library serves Garrison’s 1,462 residents. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,978 visits.
The short version on Garrison’s library
Most of Garrison’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 78% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 22%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Garrison Public Library serves 1,462 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 33 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 115 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Garrison 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 Garrison’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Garrison is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Garrison’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Garrison
11.5 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.
10.9%
10.9% of Garrison’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 Garrison’s residents live; 2022.
78% of borrowing is digital
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
23,646 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Garrison Public Library serves 1,462 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Garrison last year.
Find it
Garrison Public Library, 32 South Main Street, Garrison.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Garrison? 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 $16.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Garrison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $29K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $481K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,067 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 Garrison
Does Garrison have a public library?
Yes. Garrison Public Library, 32 South Main Street, serves Garrison’s 1,462 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Garrison Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Garrison’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 20.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Garrison’s civic life grade?
A Garrison is ahead of 93% 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 Garrison.
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.