Photo: Andrew Filer (afiler) · CC BY-SA 2.0Mandan’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Morton Mandan Public Library serves 33,291 people in and around Mandan. Last year it lent 96K books, movies and e-books and logged 45K visits.
The short version on Mandan’s library
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 71% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 65% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans. Print still makes up 54%, much of it kids’ books. 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; Morton Mandan Public Library serves 33,291 people in and around Mandan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mandan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mandan is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #12 of 22 in North Dakota. Mandan is graded on two of the three inputs. Mandan’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 →
132 community nonprofits are registered in Mandan
5.4 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 (25 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Mandan’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 Mandan’s residents live; 2022.
46% of borrowing is digital
96K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
43,589 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Morton Mandan Public Library serves 33,291 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Morton Mandan Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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.
Find it
Morton Mandan Public Library, 609 W. Main St., Mandan.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Morton Mandan Public Library branch.
New in Mandan? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mandan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 17,724 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mandan | Morton Mandan Public Library fine-free | — | 47 | B− |
| Captain's Landing 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.
- System-wide. Morton Mandan Public Library serves 33,291 people in and around Mandan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mandan.
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 Mandan
Does Mandan have a public library?
Yes. Morton Mandan Public Library, 609 W. Main St., serves 33,291 people in and around Mandan (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morton Mandan 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 Mandan’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Mandan’s civic life grade?
B− Mandan is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #12 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 Mandan.
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.