Inland Theater · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Martin’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bennett County Library serves 3,336 people in and around Martin. Last year it lent 4,136 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,589 visits.
What Martin’s library is like
Bennett County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Bennett County Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bennett County Library offered 2 programs last year, 0.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
3,214 cards for 3,336 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Bennett County Library spends $14 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Bennett County Library serves 3,336 people in and around Martin, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Martin’s civic life grade
Martin isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bennett County Library serves 3,336 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bennett County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,136 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Martin’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
1,119 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 programs a year
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
Bennett County Library, 101 Main Street, Martin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bennett County Library branch.
New in Martin? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Martin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $46K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $68K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $46K 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 3,214 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bennett County Library serves 3,336 people in and around Martin, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Martin.
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 Martin
Does Martin have a public library?
Yes. Bennett County Library, 101 Main Street, serves 3,336 people in and around Martin (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bennett County 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 Martin’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Martin’s civic life grade?
Martin isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Martin.
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.