Photo: devriesm · CC BY 2.0Hot Springs’ library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Hot Springs Public Library serves Hot Springs’s 3,609 residents. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
The short version on Hot Springs’s library
More library cards than residents
4,002 cards for 3,609 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 ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
People come to Hot Springs Public Library a lot
Hot Springs Public Library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 56 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 19 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Hot Springs invests in its library
Hot Springs Public Library spends $89 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. 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.
What’s behind Hot Springs’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hot Springs is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #8 of 31 in South Dakota. Hot Springs’ count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in Hot Springs
16.1 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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Hot Springs’ 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 Hot Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hot Springs Public Library serves 3,609 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
11,126 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
56 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 Hot Springs last year.
Find it
Hot Springs Public Library, 2005 Library Drive, Hot Springs.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hot Springs? 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 $1.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hot Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $323K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $607K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $323K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 4,002 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Hot Springs
Does Hot Springs have a public library?
Yes. Hot Springs Public Library, 2005 Library Drive, serves Hot Springs’ 3,609 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hot Springs Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hot Springs’ library?
It logged 7.7 visits and lent 10.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hot Springs’ civic life grade?
A Hot Springs is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 Hot Springs.
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.