Photo: Appraiser · CC BY-SA 3.0Barron’s library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Barron Public Library serves Barron’s 7,730 residents. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
What stands out about Barron’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Barron’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Barron is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #149 of 358 in Wisconsin. Barron is graded on two of the three inputs. Barron’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Barron
8.2 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Barron’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 Barron’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Barron Public Library serves 7,730 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
15,355 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Barron last year.
Find it
Barron Public Library, 10 N. 3rd St., Barron.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Barron? 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 $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Barron cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $283K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $906K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $283K 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 2,072 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Barron
Does Barron have a public library?
Yes. Barron Public Library, 10 N. 3rd St., serves Barron’s 7,730 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Barron 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 Barron’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Barron’s civic life grade?
B+ Barron is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #149 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 Barron.
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.