Fort Atkinson Bridge · Photo: Kevin Schuchmann · CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Atkinson’s library runs 130 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Fort Atkinson Public Library serves Fort Atkinson’s 709 residents. Last year it lent 2,611 print books and media and logged 1,986 visits.
What Fort Atkinson’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
41% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 54%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Fort Atkinson Public Library serves 709 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Fort Atkinson’s civic life grade
Fort Atkinson isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Fort Atkinson Public Library serves 709 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,611 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 5,345 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
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.
Find it
Fort Atkinson Public Library, 302 3rd NW, Fort Atkinson.
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 $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Atkinson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $42K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $49K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42K 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 270 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 Fort Atkinson
Does Fort Atkinson have a public library?
Yes. Fort Atkinson Public Library, 302 3rd NW, serves Fort Atkinson’s 709 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fort Atkinson Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fort Atkinson’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 3.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Fort Atkinson’s civic life grade?
Fort Atkinson isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Fort Atkinson.
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.