Photo: Gary Chancey, Black Hills National Forest · Public domainLead’s library lends 2.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Phoebe Apperson Hearst Free Library serves Lead’s 4,110 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
What stands out about Lead’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lead’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lead is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #3 of 31 in South Dakota. Lead is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lead’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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Lead
10.7 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.2%
11.2% of Lead’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 Lead’s 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.
Phoebe Apperson Hearst Free Library serves 4,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
5,048 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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 Lead last year.
Find it
Phoebe Apperson Hearst Free Library, 315 West Main, Lead.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lead? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lead cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $259K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $256K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $259K 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 1,816 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deadwood | Deadwood Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 43 | A |
| Lead | Phoebe Apperson Hearst Free Library fine-free | 3.7 | 40 | A+ |
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.
- 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 Lead
Does Lead have a public library?
Yes. Phoebe Apperson Hearst Free Library, 315 West Main, serves Lead’s 4,110 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Phoebe Apperson Hearst Free 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 Lead’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lead’s civic life grade?
A+ Lead is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Lead.
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.