McGregor House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Aberdeen’s library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library serves 28,110 people in and around Aberdeen. Last year it lent 237K books, movies and e-books and logged 155K visits.
What stands out about K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Aberdeen’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Aberdeen is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #18 of 31 in South Dakota. Library visits hold 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 →
156 community nonprofits are registered in Aberdeen
5.5 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.
4.9%
4.9% of Aberdeen’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical South 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 Aberdeen’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 75 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library serves 28,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
237K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
55,478 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library, 215 Fourth Avenue SE, Aberdeen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library branch.
New in Aberdeen? 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 $2.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Aberdeen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 14,655 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B |
| Aberdeen Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bath 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. K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library serves 28,110 people in and around Aberdeen, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Aberdeen.
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 Aberdeen
Does Aberdeen have a public library?
Yes. K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library, 215 Fourth Avenue SE, serves 28,110 people in and around Aberdeen (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is K.O. Lee Aberdeen 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 Aberdeen’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Aberdeen’s civic life grade?
B Aberdeen is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #18 of 31 in South 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 Aberdeen.
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.