Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0DeWitt’s library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Dewitt Community Library serves DeWitt’s 12,797 residents. Last year it lent 57K print books and media and logged 49K visits.
What stands out about DeWitt’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind DeWitt’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, DeWitt is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #65 of 138 in Iowa. DeWitt is graded on two of the three inputs. DeWitt’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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in DeWitt
7.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of DeWitt’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 DeWitt’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Dewitt Community Library serves 12,797 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 54 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
57K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
About 4 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in DeWitt last year.
Find it
Dewitt Community Library, 917 5th Ave, Dewitt.
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 $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average DeWitt cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $397K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $936K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $397K 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 3,076 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- 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 DeWitt
Does DeWitt have a public library?
Yes. Dewitt Community Library, 917 5th Ave, serves DeWitt’s 12,797 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dewitt Community Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is DeWitt’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 4.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is DeWitt’s civic life grade?
A− DeWitt is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #65 of 138 in Iowa. 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 DeWitt.
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.