Municipal Field House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Wessington Springs’ library runs 7.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Wessington Springs Carnegie Library serves Wessington Springs’s 761 residents. Last year it lent 5,036 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,478 visits.
Wessington Springs’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Wessington Springs Carnegie Library serves 761 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Wessington Springs Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1999. Today’s library there has 1,269 square feet. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Wessington Springs’ civic life grade
Wessington Springs isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
A National Register landmark since 1999
Wessington Springs Carnegie Library, 109 West Main, Wessington Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wessington Springs? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Wessington Springs Carnegie Library
Wessington Springs Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 3, 1999. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movement: Prairie School.
The Wessington Springs Carnegie Library is a Carnegie library in Wessington Springs, South Dakota, built in 1917–18. It is Prairie School in style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Wessington Springs Carnegie Library serves 761 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,036 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,646 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
6 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Wessington Springs last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wessington Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $64K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $88K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $64K 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 463 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wessington Springs | Wessington Springs Carnegie Library fine-free | 6.6 | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wessington Springs 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Wessington Springs Carnegie Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Wessington Springs
Does Wessington Springs have a public library?
Yes. Wessington Springs Carnegie Library, 109 West Main, serves Wessington Springs’ 761 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wessington Springs Carnegie 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 Wessington Springs’ library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Wessington Springs’ civic life grade?
Wessington Springs isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Wessington Springs.
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.