Tea’s library logs 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Tea Community Library serves 9,673 people in and around Tea. Last year it lent 2,797 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,080 visits.
The short version on Tea’s library
Tea Community Library is used less than most libraries its size
Tea Community Library records 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $7 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 69% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Tea Community Library offered 37 programs last year, 3.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 17 hours a week
The Tea branch keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Tea Community Library spends $7 per resident, less than 97% 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; Tea Community Library serves 9,673 people in and around Tea, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Tea’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Tea is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #24 of 31 in South Dakota. Tea is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Tea’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($90K–$150K) 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Tea
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Tea’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 Tea’s residents live; 2022.
69% of borrowing is digital
2,797 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,937 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Tea Community Library serves 9,673 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tea Community Library system. The library’s own count.
37 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
Tea Community Library, 500 W. Brian, Tea.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tea Community Library branch.
New in Tea? 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 Tea cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 5,060 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tea | Tea Community Library | — | 17 | C |
| Delapre Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Tea Community Library serves 9,673 people in and around Tea, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Tea.
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 Tea
Does Tea have a public library?
Yes. Tea Community Library, 500 W. Brian, serves 9,673 people in and around Tea (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tea Community 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 Tea’s library?
It logged 0.2 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tea’s civic life grade?
C Tea is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Tea.
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.