Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0New Rockford’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Eddy - New Rockford Public Library serves 2,347 people in and around New Rockford. Last year it lent 5,460 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,000 visits.
New Rockford’s library, in brief
Eddy - New Rockford Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Eddy - New Rockford Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Eddy - New Rockford Public Library offered 3 programs last year, 1.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Eddy - New Rockford Public Library spends $18 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
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; Eddy - New Rockford Public Library serves 2,347 people in and around New Rockford, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind New Rockford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Rockford is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. New Rockford is graded on two of the three inputs. New Rockford’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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in New Rockford
11.1 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 (4 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.
4.7%
4.7% of New Rockford’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 New Rockford’s residents live; 2022.
50% of borrowing is digital
5,460 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,711 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Eddy - New Rockford Public Library serves 2,347 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Eddy - New Rockford Public Library system. The library’s own count.
3 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.
Find it
Eddy - New Rockford Public Library, 10 8th Street N, New Rockford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Eddy - New Rockford Public Library branch.
New in New Rockford? 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 $2.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Rockford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $90K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K 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 1,573 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Rockford | Eddy - New Rockford Public Library fine-free | — | 41 | B |
| New Rockford Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Superior 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. Eddy - New Rockford Public Library serves 2,347 people in and around New Rockford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just New Rockford.
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 New Rockford
Does New Rockford have a public library?
Yes. Eddy - New Rockford Public Library, 10 8th Street N, serves 2,347 people in and around New Rockford (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eddy - New Rockford 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 New Rockford’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is New Rockford’s civic life grade?
B New Rockford is ahead of 57% 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 New Rockford.
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.