Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Stephenson’s library runs 35 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Menominee County Library serves 14,002 people in and around Stephenson. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
What Stephenson’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 485 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 85% of similar-size libraries. 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; Menominee County Library serves 14,002 people in and around Stephenson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Stephenson’s civic life grade
Stephenson 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Menominee County Library serves 14,002 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Menominee County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,330 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 kids’ programs 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
Menominee County Library, S319 Railroad Street, Stephenson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Menominee County Library branch.
New in Stephenson? 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 $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stephenson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $375K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $902K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $375K 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 4,920 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Menominee County Library serves 14,002 people in and around Stephenson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Stephenson.
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 Stephenson
Does Stephenson have a public library?
Yes. Menominee County Library, S319 Railroad Street, serves 14,002 people in and around Stephenson (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Menominee County 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 Stephenson’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Stephenson’s civic life grade?
Stephenson 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 Stephenson.
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.