Photo: Joel Bradshaw · CC BY-SA 3.0Milbank’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Grant County Public Library serves 7,553 people in and around Milbank. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
What’s behind Milbank’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Milbank is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #2 of 31 in South Dakota. Milbank is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Milbank’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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Milbank
9.7 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.1%
12.1% of Milbank’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 Milbank’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Grant County Public Library serves 7,553 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Grant County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,446 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, 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
Grant County Public Library, 207 East Park Ave, Milbank.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Grant County Public Library branch.
New in Milbank? 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 $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milbank cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $364K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $875K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $364K 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 2,379 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milbank | Grant County Public Library | — | 45 | A+ |
| Alban Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Grant Center Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Grant County Public Library serves 7,553 people in and around Milbank, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Milbank.
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 Milbank
Does Milbank have a public library?
Yes. Grant County Public Library, 207 East Park Ave, serves 7,553 people in and around Milbank (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grant County 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 Milbank’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Milbank’s civic life grade?
A+ Milbank is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 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 Milbank.
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.