The Elms · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Elmwood’s library logs 4.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Elmwood Public Library serves Elmwood’s 685 residents. Last year it lent 5,042 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,993 visits.
The short version on Elmwood’s library
Most of Elmwood’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans, more per resident than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 45%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Elmwood Public Library serves 685 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 21 hours a week
Elmwood Public Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Elmwood’s civic life grade
Elmwood 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 →
55% of borrowing is digital
5,042 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
2,750 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Elmwood Public Library serves 685 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. The library’s own count.
8 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Elmwood last year.
Find it
Elmwood Public Library, 124 West D Street, Elmwood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Elmwood? 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 $2.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elmwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $35K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $75K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35K 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 158 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 Elmwood
Does Elmwood have a public library?
Yes. Elmwood Public Library, 124 West D Street, serves Elmwood’s 685 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elmwood Public 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 Elmwood’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Elmwood’s civic life grade?
Elmwood 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 Elmwood.
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.