Chamberlain Bridge · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Chamberlain’s library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Cozard Memorial Library serves 2,881 people in and around Chamberlain. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
What Chamberlain’s library is like
More library cards than residents
5,624 cards for 2,881 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 182 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 34 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Cozard Memorial Library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 66%. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 34% of all loans. 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; Cozard Memorial Library serves 2,881 people in and around Chamberlain, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Chamberlain’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chamberlain is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All three inputs put Chamberlain near the top nationally; Chamberlain’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Chamberlain
12.0 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.2%
13.2% of Chamberlain’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 Chamberlain’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Cozard Memorial Library serves 2,881 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cozard Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,203 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Cozard Memorial Library, 110 E Lawler Ave, Chamberlain.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cozard Memorial Library branch.
New in Chamberlain? 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 $2.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chamberlain cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $158K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $426K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $158K 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 5,624 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamberlain | Cozard Memorial Library fine-free | — | 42 | A+ |
| Chamberlain Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Oacoma | 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. Cozard Memorial Library serves 2,881 people in and around Chamberlain, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chamberlain.
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 Chamberlain
Does Chamberlain have a public library?
Yes. Cozard Memorial Library, 110 E Lawler Ave, serves 2,881 people in and around Chamberlain (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cozard Memorial 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 Chamberlain’s library?
It logged 8.9 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Chamberlain’s civic life grade?
A+ Chamberlain is among the top 1% 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 Chamberlain.
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.