Laura M Welch House · Photo: AlexiusHoratius · CC BY-SA 3.0Sioux Falls’ library logs 3.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Siouxland Libraries serves 255,913 people in and around Sioux Falls from 5 locations. Last year it lent 2.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 858K visits.
What Sioux Falls’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 64% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 2,024 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 24 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Five branches in Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls has five branches of the Siouxland Libraries, which serves 255,913 people in and around Sioux Falls. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Siouxland Libraries serves 255,913 people in and around Sioux Falls, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sioux Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sioux Falls is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #23 of 31 in South Dakota. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #116. Sioux Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Sioux Falls’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
793 community nonprofits are registered in Sioux Falls
3.9 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 (222 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 23 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Sioux Falls’ 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 Sioux Falls’ residents live; 2022.
About 30 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Siouxland Libraries serves 255,913 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Siouxland Libraries system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
607,415 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
5 places to borrow in Sioux Falls
Siouxland Libraries, 200 North Dakota Ave., Sioux Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Siouxland Libraries branch.
New in Sioux Falls? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Siouxland Libraries branches in Sioux Falls
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sioux Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $32M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 82,121 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | Siouxland Libraries fine-free | — | 62 | C+ |
| Split Rock Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Wayne Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Springdale Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Delapre Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Brandon Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mapleton Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Benton Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Anderson | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pine Lakes Addition | 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. Siouxland Libraries serves 255,913 people in and around Sioux Falls, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sioux Falls.
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 Sioux Falls
Does Sioux Falls have a public library?
Yes. Siouxland Libraries, 200 North Dakota Ave., serves 255,913 people in and around Sioux Falls (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Siouxland Libraries 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 Sioux Falls’ library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sioux Falls’ civic life grade?
C+ Sioux Falls is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #23 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 Sioux Falls.
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.