Photo: Ross G. from Bloomington-Normal, Illinois · CC BY 2.0Mayville’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mayville Public Library serves Mayville’s 1,854 residents. Last year it lent 1,774 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,299 visits.
Mayville’s library, in brief
Mayville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Mayville Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $32 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Mayville Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. Today’s library there has 1,994 square feet. The building ↓
A small-town library
Mayville Public Library serves 1,854 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
34% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 55%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 20% of the people Mayville Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Mayville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mayville is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. Mayville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Mayville
7.6 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.
4.9%
4.9% of Mayville’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 Mayville’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1977
Mayville Public Library, 52 Center Avenue North, Mayville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mayville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Mayville Public Library
Mayville Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 11, 1977. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the state level.
The Mayville Public Library on Center Ave., N., Mayville, North Dakota was built in 1900. It was designed by Fargo architect William C. Albrant. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The library was funded by donations of J.L. Grandin and E.B. Grandin, who made money in bonanza farming.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mayville Public Library serves 1,854 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,774 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Mayville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
46 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mayville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $59K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $42K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $59K 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 365 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayville | Mayville Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 23 | C |
| Mayville Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lindaas Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Viking 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.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Mayville
Does Mayville have a public library?
Yes. Mayville Public Library, 52 Center Avenue North, serves Mayville’s 1,854 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mayville 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 Mayville’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mayville’s civic life grade?
C Mayville is ahead of 30% 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 Mayville.
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.