Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Wisner’s library is a branch of Franklin Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 77% of systems its size
Wisner’s library is the Wisner Branch, a branch of Franklin Parish Library, which serves 19,107 people and lent 54K items last year.
What Wisner’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, the Franklin Parish Library system 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 16 hours a week
The Wisner branch keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Franklin Parish Library system offered 180 programs last year, 9.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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; Wisner’s library is a branch of Franklin Parish Library, so they cover the whole system (19,107 people), not just the Wisner branch.
What’s behind Wisner’s civic life grade
Wisner 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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Franklin Parish Library serves 19,107 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Franklin Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,352 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Wisner Branch, 129 Fort Scott Street, Wisner.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Franklin Parish Library branch.
New in Wisner? 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 $1.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wisner cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $666K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $871K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $666K 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 4,852 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Wisner Branch is one branch of Franklin Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 19,107 people it serves.
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 Wisner
Does Wisner have a public library?
Yes: Wisner Branch, 129 Fort Scott Street, is a branch of Franklin Parish Library, which serves 19,107 people. The branch is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin Parish 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 Wisner’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Wisner’s civic life grade?
Wisner 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 Wisner.
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.