Photo: Alanscottwalker · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Pierre has no public library of its own; the nearest is R. E. Rawlins Municipal Library in Pierre, 2.2 miles away
Fort Pierre doesn’t have a public library of its own. The closest is R. E. Rawlins Municipal Library in Pierre, 2.2 miles away. Many small-town libraries give cards to neighbors, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
A+Civic lifeAhead of 98% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.Libraries for Fort Pierre, in brief
Fort Pierre borrows from the libraries next door
Fort Pierre has no public library of its own, but R. E. Rawlins Municipal Library is 2.2 miles away in Pierre. Many small-town libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead. Nearest libraries ↓
The nearby libraries are all fine-free
None of the three closest libraries charges late fines. Nearest libraries ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Distances are straight-line from the town center.
What’s behind Fort Pierre’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Pierre is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. Fort Pierre is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Fort Pierre’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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Pierre
11.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
11.4%
11.4% of Fort Pierre’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 Fort Pierre’s residents live; 2022.
The closest is 2.2 miles away
Closest first, measured from the center of Fort Pierre. Each one’s hours, and whether it charges late fines.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Fort Pierre
Does Fort Pierre have a public library?
No. The closest is R. E. Rawlins Municipal Library in Pierre, 2.2 miles from the town center. Many libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
What is Fort Pierre’s civic life grade?
A+ Fort Pierre is ahead of 98% 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 Fort Pierre.
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.