Parkston’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Parkston Public Library serves Parkston’s 1,544 residents. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,627 visits.
Parkston’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Parkston Public Library serves 1,544 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 47 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Parkston is a town of borrowers
Parkston Public Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 22% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 39% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 14 items per child in Parkston last year. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Parkston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Parkston is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns. Parkston’s 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Parkston
8.0 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.
5.5%
5.5% of Parkston’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 Parkston’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
5,029 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Parkston Public Library serves 1,544 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
22 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 Parkston last year.
Find it
Parkston Public Library, 110 W Main St., Parkston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Parkston? 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 $3.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Parkston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $111K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $365K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $111K 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 515 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parkston | Parkston Public Library | 15.1 | 47 | B+ |
| Susquehanna Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Liberty 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.
- 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 Parkston
Does Parkston have a public library?
Yes. Parkston Public Library, 110 W Main St., serves Parkston’s 1,544 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Parkston 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 Parkston’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 15.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Parkston’s civic life grade?
B+ Parkston is ahead of 70% 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 Parkston.
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.