Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Balsam Lake’s library lends 5.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Balsam Lake Public Library serves Balsam Lake’s 3,577 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What stands out about Balsam Lake’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Balsam Lake’s civic life grade
Balsam Lake 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Balsam Lake Public Library serves 3,577 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
6,379 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Balsam Lake Public Library, 404 Main St., Balsam Lake.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Balsam Lake? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Balsam Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $177K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $405K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $177K 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 1,086 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balsam Lake | Balsam Lake Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 41 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Milltown | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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 Balsam Lake
Does Balsam Lake have a public library?
Yes. Balsam Lake Public Library, 404 Main St., serves Balsam Lake’s 3,577 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Balsam Lake 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 Balsam Lake’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Balsam Lake’s civic life grade?
Balsam Lake 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 Balsam Lake.
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.