Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainWilsey’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Elm Creek Township Library serves 294 people in and around Wilsey. Last year it lent 294 books, movies and e-books and logged 845 visits.
The short version on Wilsey’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Elm Creek Township Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Elm Creek Township Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Elm Creek Township Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Elm Creek Township Library serves 294 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people Elm Creek Township Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Wilsey’s civic life grade
Wilsey 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 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Elm Creek Township Library serves 294 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Elm Creek Township Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
294 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,808 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Find it
Elm Creek Township Library, 213 North 5th St., Wilsey.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wilsey? 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 $1.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilsey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $4,575.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7,173 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4,575 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 57 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Wilsey
Does Wilsey have a public library?
Yes. Elm Creek Township Library, 213 North 5th St., serves 294 people in and around Wilsey (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elm Creek Township 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 Wilsey’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Wilsey’s civic life grade?
Wilsey 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 Wilsey.
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.