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SDSouth Dakota rankings

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.

IMLS Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024

Canton 1 Canton 9.7 per resident Canton Public Library Hot Springs 2 Hot Springs 7.7 per resident Hot Springs Public Library Yankton 3 Yankton 6.8 per resident Yankton Community Library
#TownVisits per residentLibraryVisits a year
1 Canton Canton3,033 people 9.7 per resident Canton Public Library 29,046
2 Hot Springs Hot Springs3,548 people 7.7 per resident Hot Springs Public Library 27,829
3 Yankton Yankton15,540 people 6.8 per resident Yankton Community Library 106,432
4 Madison Madison6,094 people 6.4 per resident Madison Public Library 38,688
5 Map of Huron Huron14,385 people 6.0 per resident Huron Public Library 87,846
6 Vermillion Vermillion11,878 people 5.4 per resident Edith B Siegrist Vermillion Public Library 65,124
7 Map of North Sioux City North Sioux City3,045 people 5.1 per resident North Sioux City Community Library 15,415
8 Sisseton Sisseton2,670 people 4.7 per resident Sisseton Memorial Library 11,297
9 Watertown Watertown23,044 people 3.9 per resident Watertown Regional Library 90,735
10 Brookings23,948 people 3.8 per resident Brookings Public Library 91,725
11 Map of Mitchell Mitchell15,649 people 3.5 per resident Mitchell Public Library 54,865
12 Mobridge Mobridge2,932 people 2.4 per resident A. H. Brown Public Library 7,644
13 Belle Fourche Belle Fourche5,804 people 2.3 per resident Belle Fourche Public Library 13,585
14 Map of Harrisburg Harrisburg8,519 people 1.5 per resident Harrisburg Community Library 14,170
15 Dell Rapids Dell Rapids3,905 people 1.1 per resident Dell Rapids Carnegie Public Library 4,212

How this ranking works

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.

Same ranking in other states

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