Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainPilger’s library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Pilger Public Library serves Pilger’s 242 residents. Last year it lent 2,865 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,505 visits.
What Pilger’s library is like
More library cards than residents
298 cards for 242 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Most of Pilger’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 68% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 32%. What people borrow ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 95% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 49%. Program attendance beats 94% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Pilger Public Library ran 81 programs last year, about 2 a week. That’s 335 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 807 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
45% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 52%. What your card is worth ↓
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 Pilger’s civic life grade
Pilger 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 →
68% of borrowing is digital
2,865 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,608 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,956 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pilger Public Library serves 242 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
81 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 Pilger last year.
Find it
Pilger Public Library, 120 North Main Street, Pilger.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pilger? 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 $1.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pilger cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $33K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $52K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $33K 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 298 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 Pilger
Does Pilger have a public library?
Yes. Pilger Public Library, 120 North Main Street, serves Pilger’s 242 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pilger 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 Pilger’s library?
It logged 14.5 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Pilger’s civic life grade?
Pilger 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 Pilger.
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.