Dewey Township’s library lends 7.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
La Crosse Public Library serves 1,000 people in and around Dewey Township. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,324 visits.
What Dewey Township’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 69% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
La Crosse Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
La Crosse Public Library spends $162 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. 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; La Crosse Public Library serves 1,000 people in and around Dewey Township, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Dewey Township’s civic life grade
Dewey Township 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 →
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
La Crosse Public Library serves 1,000 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole La Crosse Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,010 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
La Crosse Public Library, 307 E Main Street, La Crosse.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every La Crosse Public Library branch.
New in Dewey Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dewey Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $162K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $160K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $162K 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 748 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dewey Township | La Crosse Public Library | — | 47 | — graded with its twin city |
| Railroad Township | San Pierre Branch fine-free | — | 28 | B |
| Pleasant Township | Kouts Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | B+ |
| Cass Township | Wanatah Public Library | — | 39 | A |
| Prairie Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. La Crosse Public Library serves 1,000 people in and around Dewey Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dewey Township.
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 Dewey Township
Does Dewey Township have a public library?
Yes. La Crosse Public Library, 307 E Main Street, serves 1,000 people in and around Dewey Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is La Crosse Public 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 Dewey Township’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 10.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Dewey Township’s civic life grade?
Dewey Township 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 Dewey Township.
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.