Island Woolen Company Office Building · Photo: Tgkrause · CC BY-SA 3.0Baraboo’s library lends 8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library serves Baraboo’s 21,710 residents. Last year it lent 209K books, movies and e-books and logged 102K visits.
Baraboo’s library, in brief
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Baraboo Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. Today’s library there has 31,877 square feet. The building ↓
A place to get online
Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library logs about 687 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 14 public computers. That’s 12 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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.
What’s behind Baraboo’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Baraboo is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #45 of 358 in Wisconsin. Baraboo is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Baraboo’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
113 community nonprofits are registered in Baraboo
8.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.4%
8.4% of Baraboo’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 Baraboo’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
209K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 88K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
35,654 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library serves 21,710 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 69 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 7 kids’ programs a week
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 Baraboo last year.
A National Register landmark since 1981
Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library, 230 Fourth Ave., Baraboo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Baraboo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Baraboo Public Library
Baraboo Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 14, 1981. It is significant for its architecture at the local level.
The Baraboo Public Library, also known as the Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library, is the public library serving Baraboo, Wisconsin. Located at 230 4th Avenue, it was built in 1903 as one of the state's first small-scale Carnegie libraries.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Baraboo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 8,954 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baraboo | Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library fine-free | 9.6 | 58 | A |
| West Baraboo | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Greenfield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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).
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 Baraboo
Does Baraboo have a public library?
Yes. Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library, 230 Fourth Ave., serves Baraboo’s 21,710 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carnegie-Schadde Memorial 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 Baraboo’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Baraboo’s civic life grade?
A Baraboo is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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 Baraboo.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.