Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Harvey’s library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Harvey Public Library serves Harvey’s 1,650 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
The short version on Harvey’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
89% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 10%. What your card is worth ↓
Harvey uses its library more than almost any town its size
Harvey Public Library logs 9.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Harvey Public Library serves 1,650 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 40 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Harvey Public Library offered 18 programs last year, 11 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Harvey’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Harvey is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. Harvey’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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Harvey
14.1 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.9%
4.9% of Harvey’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 Harvey’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Harvey Public Library serves 1,650 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
18 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 Harvey last year.
Find it
Harvey Public Library, 119 East Tenth Street, Harvey.
Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Harvey? 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 $3.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harvey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $127K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $416K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $127K 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 750 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvey | Harvey Public Library | 15.4 | 40 | A− |
| Wells Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hillsdale Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Forward 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Harvey Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Harvey
Does Harvey have a public library?
Yes. Harvey Public Library, 119 East Tenth Street, serves Harvey’s 1,650 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harvey Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Harvey’s library?
It logged 9.6 visits and lent 15.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Harvey’s civic life grade?
A− Harvey is ahead of 78% 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 Harvey.
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.