Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Vermillion’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library serves Vermillion’s 12,011 residents. Last year it lent 94K books, movies and e-books and logged 65K visits.
What Vermillion’s library is like
Above typical on nearly every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library is above the middle on six of the seven per-resident measures we compare, and close to it on the other, with four in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Vermillion-Andrew Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. Today’s library there has 22,890 square feet. The building ↓
Open about 70 hours a week
Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out. The building ↓
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.
What’s behind Vermillion’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Vermillion is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #5 of 31 in South Dakota. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Vermillion
6.1 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
14.1%
14.1% of Vermillion’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 Vermillion’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library serves 12,011 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
94K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 63K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
21,706 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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 Vermillion last year.
A National Register landmark since 1983
Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library, 18 Church Street, Vermillion.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Vermillion? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Vermillion-Andrew Carnegie Library
Vermillion-Andrew Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 18, 1983. It is significant for its education, politics and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vermillion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $824K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $824K 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 4,588 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermillion | Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 70 | A |
| Vermillion Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fairview 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 Vermillion
Does Vermillion have a public library?
Yes. Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library, 18 Church Street, serves Vermillion’s 12,011 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library 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 Vermillion’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Vermillion’s civic life grade?
A Vermillion is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 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 Vermillion.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.