Photo: LeeAnne Adams · CC BY 2.0La Crosse’s library logs 8.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Barnard Library serves La Crosse’s 1,297 residents. Last year it lent 6,146 books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
La Crosse’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Barnard Library serves 1,297 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 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 ↓
Kansas pays a big share
23% of the budget comes from the state, and 58% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
83% of the 126 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 17 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 La Crosse’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, La Crosse is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All three inputs put La Crosse near the top nationally; La Crosse’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in La Crosse
13.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.6%
13.6% of La Crosse’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.7% in the typical Kansas 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 La Crosse’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Barnard Library serves 1,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,146 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,755 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,093 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
126 programs a year
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 La Crosse last year.
Find it
Barnard Library, 521 Elm, La Crosse.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in La Crosse? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average La Crosse cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $82K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $111K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $82K 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 536 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. Barnard Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 La Crosse
Does La Crosse have a public library?
Yes. Barnard Library, 521 Elm, serves La Crosse’s 1,297 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Barnard Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is La Crosse’s library?
It logged 8.3 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is La Crosse’s civic life grade?
A+ La Crosse is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 La Crosse.
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.