Photo: This illustration was made by Peter Potrowl. Please credit this with : © Peter Potrowl in the immediate vicinity of the image. A link to my website sitemai.eu would be much appreciated but isn't mandatory. An email to Peter Potrowl would be appreciated too. Do not copy this image illegally by ignoring the terms of the license below, as it is not in the public domain. If you would like special permission to use, license, or purchase the image please contact me Peter Potrowl to negotiate terms. More free pictures in my website. Donations are accepted here and here. · CC BY-SA 3.0Glenwood’s library lends 41 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Glenwood Community Library serves 113 people in and around Glenwood. Last year it lent 4,846 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,480 visits.
What Glenwood’s library is like
More library cards than residents
424 cards for 113 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 ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Glenwood Community Library logs 40 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 41 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Glenwood Community Library ran 39 programs last year, about 1 a week. That’s 345 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 444 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 14% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. 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; Glenwood Community Library serves 113 people in and around Glenwood, 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 Glenwood’s civic life grade
Glenwood 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Glenwood Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Glenwood Community Library serves 113 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,846 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
159 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
39 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
Glenwood Community Library, 21 Menges Lane, Glenwood.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Glenwood Community Library branch.
New in Glenwood? 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 $4.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glenwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $29K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $142K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29K 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 424 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Glenwood’s 4,480 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- System-wide. Glenwood Community Library serves 113 people in and around Glenwood, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Glenwood.
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 Glenwood
Does Glenwood have a public library?
Yes. Glenwood Community Library, 21 Menges Lane, serves 113 people in and around Glenwood (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glenwood Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Glenwood’s library?
It logged 39.6 visits and lent 42.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Glenwood’s civic life grade?
Glenwood 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 Glenwood.
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.