Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainElm Creek’s library runs 91 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Elm Creek Public Library serves Elm Creek’s 978 residents. Last year it lent 538 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,080 visits.
The short version on Elm Creek’s library
A small-town library
Elm Creek Public Library serves 978 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 ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Elm Creek Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people Elm Creek Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Elm Creek Public Library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 96% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Elm Creek’s civic life grade
Elm Creek 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Elm Creek Public Library serves 978 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Elm Creek Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
538 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,035 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Elm Creek last year.
Find it
Elm Creek Public Library, 241 North Tyler Street, Elm Creek.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Elm Creek? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elm Creek cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $40K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $21K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $40K 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 96 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. Elm Creek Public 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 Elm Creek
Does Elm Creek have a public library?
Yes. Elm Creek Public Library, 241 North Tyler Street, serves Elm Creek’s 978 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elm Creek Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Elm Creek’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Elm Creek’s civic life grade?
Elm Creek 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 Elm Creek.
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.