Photo: Ross Griff · CC BY 2.0De Smet’s library lends 28 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Hazel L. Meyer Memorial Library serves De Smet’s 1,046 residents. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 2,990 visits.
The short version on De Smet’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 101 items per child in De Smet last year. Kids & programs ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 60%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 9.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Hazel L. Meyer Memorial Library serves 1,046 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 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 ↓
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 De Smet’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, De Smet is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. De Smet’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in De Smet
14.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of De Smet’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 De Smet’s residents live; 2022.
30 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in De Smet last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hazel L. Meyer Memorial Library serves 1,046 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
9,567 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hazel L. Meyer Memorial Library, 102 1st Street NE, De Smet.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in De Smet? 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 $5.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average De Smet cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $101K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $551K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $101K 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 626 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. Hazel L. Meyer Memorial 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 De Smet
Does De Smet have a public library?
Yes. Hazel L. Meyer Memorial Library, 102 1st Street NE, serves De Smet’s 1,046 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hazel L. Meyer 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 De Smet’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 36.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is De Smet’s civic life grade?
A De Smet is ahead of 86% 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 De Smet.
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.