Photo: Davishan99 · CC BY-SA 3.0Red River’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Red River Public Library serves Red River’s 542 residents. Last year it lent 7,257 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,847 visits.
Red River’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,004 cards for 542 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Red River uses its library more than almost any town its size
Red River Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Red River Public Library serves 542 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 34 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 ↓
Red River invests in its library
Red River Public Library spends $188 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Red River’s civic life grade
Red River 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Red River Public Library serves 542 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
7,257 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,010 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
48 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Red River Public Library, 702 E. Main St., Red River.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Red River? 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 $1.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Red River cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $125K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 1,004 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Red River Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Red River
Does Red River have a public library?
Yes. Red River Public Library, 702 E. Main St., serves Red River’s 542 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Red River 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 Red River’s library?
It logged 10.8 visits and lent 13.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Red River’s civic life grade?
Red River 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 Red River.
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.