First Presbyterian Church of Steele · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Steele’s library logs 1.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Kidder County Public Library serves 2,394 people in and around Steele. Last year it lent 5,908 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,471 visits.
What Steele’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Kidder County Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people the system 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; Kidder County Public Library serves 2,394 people in and around Steele, 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 Steele’s civic life grade
Steele 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Kidder County Public Library serves 2,394 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 Kidder County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
5,908 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
643 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Kidder County Public Library, 115 West Broadway, Steele.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kidder County Public Library branch.
New in Steele? 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 $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Steele cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $89K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $142K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $89K 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 313 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Kidder County Public Library serves 2,394 people in and around Steele, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Steele.
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 Steele
Does Steele have a public library?
Yes. Kidder County Public Library, 115 West Broadway, serves 2,394 people in and around Steele (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kidder County 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 Steele’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Steele’s civic life grade?
Steele 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 Steele.
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.