Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Hazen’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Hazen Public Library serves Hazen’s 2,281 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
The short version on Hazen’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
58% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 35%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Hazen Public Library serves 2,281 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 46 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 ↓
Programs draw a crowd
5,860 people came to the library’s 120 programs last year: 2.6 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Hazen Public Library logs about 303 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 4 public computers. That’s 48 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Hazen’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hazen is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. Hazen’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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Hazen
9.0 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 (7 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.
6.8%
6.8% of Hazen’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 Hazen’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Hazen last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hazen Public Library serves 2,281 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hazen Public Library, 203 East Main, Hazen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hazen? 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 $3.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hazen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $175K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $643K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $175K 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 969 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 Hazen
Does Hazen have a public library?
Yes. Hazen Public Library, 203 East Main, serves Hazen’s 2,281 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hazen 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 Hazen’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hazen’s civic life grade?
A− Hazen 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 Hazen.
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.