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Library · Renville · part of Pioneerland Library System

Renville Public Library

Renville’s library is the Renville Public Library, a branch of Pioneerland Library System, which serves 161,633 people and lent 561K items last year.

221 N. Main Street, Renville 56284 · about 20 hours a week
Borrowed a year
561K
3.5 per resident
Visits a year
385K
2.4 per resident · Above typical (2.1)
Programs & events
3,727
about 72 a week · 57K attended
Cardholders
29%
46,551 cards
Open
20 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Renville Public Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 42 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Renville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5977
Ages 6–111,194
Teens219
Adults943
All ages394
Little ones
18.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

222K
kids’ books & media borrowed
57K
people at programs
3,727
programs
The building

Find it

Renville Public Library, 221 N. Main Street, Renville.

20
hours open a week
4,124
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pioneerland Library System branch.

New in Renville? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pioneerland Library System system. The library’s own count.

385K
visits
2.4 per resident
561K
loans, print + digital
3.5 per resident
3,727
programs & events
57K attended
47K
library cards
29% of people served
Every open hour11items borrowed
Every week1,105people at a program
Every day113Wi-Fi sessions
67 staff (full-time equivalent)239 public computers
How it compares

Strongest at program attendance

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.

Visits per resident 2.4 visits · typical 2.1Higher than 60%
Borrowing per resident 2.9 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 56%
Digital borrowing 0.6 e-items · typical 1.4Lower than 81%
Kids’ borrowing 1.4 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 56%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 78%
Programs offered 23.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Top 10%
Cardholders 29% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 74%
Spending $35 per resident · typical $36Lower than 51%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Pioneerland Library System serves 161,633 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

561K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

561Kloans
Books & media (adults) 45%Kids’ books & media 40%E-books, audio & streaming 16%
From your couch

89,222 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.60 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Renville cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$0
a year at retail prices · $0 a month

Who pays for it
$35 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.6M.

Local taxes 76%State 18%Gifts & other 6%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.6M 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 46,551 cardholders ÷ 12.

About these numbers

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
  • Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
  • 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.
  • System-wide. Renville Public Library is one branch of Pioneerland Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 161,633 people it serves.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Renville.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is Renville Public Library one of the best things about Renville?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Start a conversation

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.

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