Photo: Turaliigo · CC BY-SA 4.0Willcox’s library runs 58 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Elsie S. Hogan Community Library serves Willcox’s 3,271 residents. Last year it lent 14K print books and media and logged 16K visits.
Willcox’s library, in brief
Federal money pays a real share
61% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 39% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
62% of the 189 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 64 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Elsie S. Hogan Community Library holds 34,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Willcox’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Willcox is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #20 of 68 in Arizona. Willcox’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Willcox
7.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.3%
4.3% of Willcox’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.0% in the typical Arizona town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Willcox’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Elsie S. Hogan Community Library serves 3,271 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
14K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Willcox last year.
Find it
Elsie S. Hogan Community Library, 100 N Curtis Ave, Willcox.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Willcox? 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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Willcox cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $194K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $236K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $194K 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 2,499 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Elsie S. Hogan Community Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Willcox
Does Willcox have a public library?
Yes. Elsie S. Hogan Community Library, 100 N Curtis Ave, serves Willcox’s 3,271 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elsie S. Hogan Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Willcox’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 4.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Willcox’s civic life grade?
B Willcox is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 of 68 in Arizona. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Willcox.
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.