Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Amherst’s library lends 9.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lettie W. Jensen Public Library serves Amherst’s 1,130 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,504 visits.
The short version on Amherst’s library
More library cards than residents
2,117 cards for 1,130 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 ↓
A small-town library
Lettie W. Jensen Public Library serves 1,130 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 27 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Federal money pays a real share
21% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 62% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 28 items per child in Amherst last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Amherst’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Amherst is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Amherst
6.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
15.9%
15.9% of Amherst’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 Amherst’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lettie W. Jensen Public Library serves 1,130 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
2,399 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
60 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 Amherst last year.
Find it
Lettie W. Jensen Public Library, 278 N. Main St., Amherst.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Amherst? 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 $3.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Amherst cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $55K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $206K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $55K 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 2,117 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lettie W. Jensen Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Amherst
Does Amherst have a public library?
Yes. Lettie W. Jensen Public Library, 278 N. Main St., serves Amherst’s 1,130 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lettie W. Jensen 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 Amherst’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 11.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Amherst’s civic life grade?
A+ Amherst is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Amherst.
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.