Sweep Hotel · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Plankinton’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Plankinton Community Library serves 1,316 people in and around Plankinton. Last year it lent 345 books, movies and e-books and logged 424 visits.
Plankinton’s library, in brief
Plankinton Community Library is used less than most libraries its size
Plankinton Community Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 10 hours a week
The Plankinton branch keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Plankinton Community Library offered 5 programs last year, 3.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 3% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Plankinton Community Library spends $11 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; Plankinton Community Library serves 1,316 people in and around Plankinton, 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 Plankinton’s civic life grade
Plankinton 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Plankinton Community Library serves 1,316 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Plankinton Community Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Plankinton Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
345 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
5 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Plankinton Community Library, 404 E Davenport, Plankinton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Plankinton Community Library branch.
New in Plankinton? 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 Plankinton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $15K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5,925 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15K 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 39 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Plankinton Community Library serves 1,316 people in and around Plankinton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Plankinton.
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 Plankinton
Does Plankinton have a public library?
Yes. Plankinton Community Library, 404 E Davenport, serves 1,316 people in and around Plankinton (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plankinton Community 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 Plankinton’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Plankinton’s civic life grade?
Plankinton 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 Plankinton.
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.