Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Williston’s library runs 20 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Williston Community Library serves 38,748 people in and around Williston. Last year it lent 116K books, movies and e-books and logged 71K visits.
Williston’s library, in brief
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 760 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 10 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 66% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 58% of similar-size libraries. 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; Williston Community Library serves 38,748 people in and around Williston, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Williston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Williston is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #10 of 22 in North Dakota. Williston is graded on two of the three inputs. Williston’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 →
126 community nonprofits are registered in Williston
4.5 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 (32 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.
6.9%
6.9% of Williston’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 Williston’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Williston Community Library serves 38,748 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Williston Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
116K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
36,888 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 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
Williston Community Library, 1302 Davidson Drive, Williston.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Williston Community Library branch.
New in Williston? 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 $2.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Williston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $842K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $842K 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 8,926 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williston | Williston Community Library fine-free | — | 57 | B− |
| Missouri Ridge Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Stony Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Williston Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Mont Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pherrin 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. Williston Community Library serves 38,748 people in and around Williston, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Williston.
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 Williston
Does Williston have a public library?
Yes. Williston Community Library, 1302 Davidson Drive, serves 38,748 people in and around Williston (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Williston Community 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 Williston’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Williston’s civic life grade?
B− Williston is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Williston.
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.