Photo: afiler from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Lakota’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Lakota City Library serves 2,623 people in and around Lakota. Last year it lent 5,107 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,300 visits.
The short version on Lakota’s library
Lakota City Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lakota City Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
38% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 62%. What your card is worth ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Tofthagen Library Museum has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1991. Today’s library there has 1,496 square feet. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Lakota City Library serves 2,623 people in and around Lakota, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lakota’s civic life grade
Lakota isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
A National Register landmark since 1991
Lakota City Library, 116 West B Avenue, Lakota.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lakota City Library branch.
New in Lakota? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Tofthagen Library Museum
Tofthagen Library Museum was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 26, 1991. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Prairie School. It was listed as part of Philanthropically Established Libraries in North Dakota MPS.
The Tofthagen Library and Museum on W. B Ave. in Lakota, North Dakota, is a building erected in 1927. It has also been known as the Lakota City Library. It includes Prairie School architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as Tofthagen Library Museum. It is named for the library's donor, Amun M. Tofthagen, who was born in Hundorp, Norway in 1858.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lakota City Library serves 2,623 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lakota City Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,107 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,994 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
30 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lakota cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $97K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 209 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lakota City Library serves 2,623 people in and around Lakota, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lakota.
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 Lakota
Does Lakota have a public library?
Yes. Lakota City Library, 116 West B Avenue, serves 2,623 people in and around Lakota (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lakota City 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 Lakota’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lakota’s civic life grade?
Lakota isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Lakota.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.