Photo: Bp0 at English Wikipedia · Public domainWatertown’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Watertown Regional Library serves Watertown’s 23,230 residents. Last year it lent 235K books, movies and e-books and logged 91K visits.
What stands out about Watertown’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Watertown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Watertown is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #22 of 31 in South Dakota. Watertown’s 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 ($52K–$87K) 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 →
134 community nonprofits are registered in Watertown
5.8 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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.8%
3.8% of Watertown’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 Watertown’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
235K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 118K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
67,667 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Watertown Regional Library serves 23,230 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 8 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 Watertown last year.
2 places to borrow in Watertown
Watertown Regional Library, 160 6th St. NE, Watertown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Watertown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Watertown
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Watertown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 10,067 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown | Watertown Regional Library | 10.1 | 63 | C+ |
| Lake Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Elmira Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sheridan Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pelican Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Richland 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 Watertown
Does Watertown have a public library?
Yes. Watertown Regional Library, 160 6th St. NE, serves Watertown’s 23,230 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Watertown Regional 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 Watertown’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 10.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Watertown’s civic life grade?
C+ Watertown is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Watertown.
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.