Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0What Cheer’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
What Cheer Public Library serves What Cheer’s 1,422 residents. Last year it lent 1,383 print books and media and logged 572 visits.
The short version on What Cheer’s library
What Cheer Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
What Cheer Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
57% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 43%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
What Cheer Public Library offered 1 programs last year, 0.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
What Cheer Public Library serves 1,422 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
What Cheer Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 What Cheer’s civic life grade
What Cheer 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
What Cheer Public Library serves 1,422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,383 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 6,524 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in What Cheer last year.
Find it
What Cheer Public Library, 308 S Barnes St., What Cheer.
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 $1.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average What Cheer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $25K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 753 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 What Cheer
Does What Cheer have a public library?
Yes. What Cheer Public Library, 308 S Barnes St., serves What Cheer’s 1,422 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is What Cheer Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is What Cheer’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 1.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is What Cheer’s civic life grade?
What Cheer 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 What Cheer.
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.