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Photo of downtown Amery, WisconsinPhoto: Cglenn3932 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Amery Public Library

Amery’s library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size

Amery Public Library serves Amery’s 11,713 residents. Last year it lent 98K books, movies and e-books and logged 43K visits.

104 Maple St., Amery 54001 · about 49 hours a week
ACivic lifeAhead of 85% of U.S. towns · #62 of 358 in Wisconsin. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
98K
8.4 per resident
Visits a year
43K
3.7 per resident · Above typical (3.1)
Programs & events
251
about 5 a week · 4,332 attended
Cardholders
29%
3,387 cards
Open
49 hrs
a week

What stands out about Amery’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Amery’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Amery is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #62 of 358 in Wisconsin. Amery is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.

A
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Amery’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 85%
FewerMore
Wisconsin towns we grade (358)Ahead of 83%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $44K–$74K (7,480)Ahead of 82%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Amery is small (2,927 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

14 community nonprofits are registered in Amery

4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.61 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.47 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans20.84 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services31.08 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education20.61 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.24 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.37 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.47 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

10.5%

10.5% of Amery’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Wisconsin town and 7.5% nationally.

Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Amery’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 3.7 visits · typical 3.1Higher than 60%
Borrowing per resident 6.5 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 75%
Digital borrowing 1.8 e-items · typical 1.1Higher than 71%
Kids’ borrowing 2.9 kids’ items · typical 1.8Higher than 72%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.4Lower than 57%
Programs offered 21.4 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Lower than 55%
Cardholders 29% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 70%
Spending $42 per resident · typical $43Lower than 51%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Amery Public Library serves 11,713 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 38 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

43K
visits
3.7 per resident
98K
loans, print + digital
8.4 per resident
251
programs & events
4,332 attended
3,387
library cards
29% of people served
Every open hour38items borrowed
Every week83people at a program
Every day42Wi-Fi sessions
7 staff (full-time equivalent)10 public computers29K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

98K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

98Kloans
Books & media (adults) 43%Kids’ books & media 35%E-books, audio & streaming 22%
How hard the shelves work
2.6×

Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year, on average.

From your couch

21,655 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Amery →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–554
Ages 6–1136
Teens35
Adults77
All ages49
Little ones
1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
89

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Amery last year.

4,332
people at programs
251
programs
The building

Find it

Amery Public Library, 104 Maple St., Amery.

49
hours open a week
14,997
square feet
29K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Amery? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.11 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Amery cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
1
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$528
a year at retail prices · $44 a month

Who pays for it
$42 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $495K.

Local taxes 91%Federal 0%Gifts & other 9%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $495K 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 3,387 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
AmeryAmery Public Library fine-free8.449A
LincolnNone of its own——A
Black BrookNone of its own——B+

Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).

How to read these numbers

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 Amery

Does Amery have a public library?

Yes. Amery Public Library, 104 Maple St., serves Amery’s 11,713 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Amery 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 Amery’s library?

It logged 3.7 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Amery’s civic life grade?

A Amery is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #62 of 358 in Wisconsin. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Amery.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.