Photo: Bkell · Public domainBassett’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Rock County Public Library serves 1,271 people in and around Bassett. Last year it lent 9,536 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,160 visits.
Bassett’s library, in brief
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans, more per resident than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
Rock County Public Library spends $100 per resident, more than 83% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 81% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
1,176 cards for 1,271 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. 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; Rock County Public Library serves 1,271 people in and around Bassett, 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 Bassett’s civic life grade
Bassett 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 →
50% of borrowing is digital
9,536 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,747 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rock County Public Library serves 1,271 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rock County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
68 programs a year
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
Rock County Public Library, 201 East Bertha, Bassett.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rock County Public Library branch.
New in Bassett? 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 $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bassett cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $127K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $151K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $127K 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 1,176 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Rock County Public Library serves 1,271 people in and around Bassett, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bassett.
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 Bassett
Does Bassett have a public library?
Yes. Rock County Public Library, 201 East Bertha, serves 1,271 people in and around Bassett (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rock County Public 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 Bassett’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bassett’s civic life grade?
Bassett 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 Bassett.
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.