Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Wartburg’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Wartburg Public Library serves 11,002 people in and around Wartburg. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,457 visits.
Wartburg’s library, in brief
Wartburg Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Wartburg Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $2 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Wartburg Public Library offered 18 programs last year, 1.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Wartburg Public Library spends $2 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Wartburg Public Library serves 11,002 people in and around Wartburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wartburg’s civic life grade
Wartburg 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 →
51% of borrowing is digital
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,885 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Wartburg Public Library serves 11,002 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wartburg Public Library system. The library’s own count.
18 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
Wartburg Public Library, 514 Spring St., Wartburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wartburg Public Library branch.
New in Wartburg? 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 $8.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wartburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $22K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $190K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22K 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 1,979 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Wartburg Public Library serves 11,002 people in and around Wartburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wartburg.
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 Wartburg
Does Wartburg have a public library?
Yes. Wartburg Public Library, 514 Spring St., serves 11,002 people in and around Wartburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wartburg 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 Wartburg’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Wartburg’s civic life grade?
Wartburg 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 Wartburg.
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.