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South Dakota rankings · Libraries

Towns with the most-used public libraries in South Dakota

Ranked by library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town. 15 towns with 2,500+ residents.

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There isn’t enough data to rank Olean here: library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town.

#1
Canton9.7 per resident · Canton Public Library
#2
Hot Springs7.7 per resident · Hot Springs Public Library
#3
Yankton6.8 per resident · Yankton Community Library

All 15 towns

Visits per resident, highest first. Towns next door to Olean are tagged.

#TownVisits per residentLibraryVisits a year
1 Canton3,033 people 9.7 per resident Canton Public Library29,046
2 Hot Springs3,548 people 7.7 per resident Hot Springs Public Library27,829
3 Yankton15,540 people 6.8 per resident Yankton Community Library106,432
4 Madison6,094 people 6.4 per resident Madison Public Library38,688
5 Huron14,385 people 6.0 per resident Huron Public Library87,846
6 Vermillion11,878 people 5.4 per resident Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library65,124
7 North Sioux City3,045 people 5.1 per resident North Sioux City Community Library15,415
8 Sisseton2,670 people 4.7 per resident Sisseton Memorial Library11,297
9 Watertown23,044 people 3.9 per resident Watertown Regional Library90,735
10 Brookings23,948 people 3.8 per resident Brookings Public Library91,725
11 Mitchell15,649 people 3.5 per resident Mitchell Public Library54,865
12 Mobridge2,932 people 2.4 per resident A. H. Brown Public Library7,644
13 Belle Fourche5,804 people 2.3 per resident Belle Fourche Public Library13,585
14 Harrisburg8,519 people 1.5 per resident Harrisburg Community Library14,170
15 Dell Rapids3,905 people 1.1 per resident Dell Rapids Carnegie Public Library4,212
How it works

How this ranking works

The SD list, with the map →

We rank every town by library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town. The highest figure ranks #1. Each library reports its own yearly numbers to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (fiscal year 2024), and each town’s Library page shows how it compares with libraries of a similar size nationwide.

A town is ranked only when its library system serves that town alone, and the library’s own count of the people it serves is within 20% of the town’s population. Towns served by a county or regional system, or sharing a library with a neighbor, can’t be credited with the numbers, so they aren’t ranked. Libraries that didn’t respond to the survey aren’t ranked either. Vacation towns can rank high because summer residents and visitors use the library too.

Only towns with at least 2,500 residents are ranked; Census estimates for smaller places are too uncertain. Population and income: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Libraries: IMLS Public Libraries Survey. Town photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each town’s page.

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