Bass Lake’s library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library serves 2,595 people in and around Bass Lake. Last year it lent 4,520 books, movies and e-books and logged 9,932 visits.
Bass Lake’s library, in brief
Federal money pays a real share
33% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 66% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library offered 24 programs last year, 9.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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; Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library serves 2,595 people in and around Bass Lake, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bass Lake’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bass Lake is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #206 of 358 in Wisconsin. Bass Lake’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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Bass Lake
7.3 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 (3 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.
5.2%
5.2% of Bass Lake’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 Bass Lake’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library serves 2,595 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,520 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
573 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
24 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library, 13466 W. Trepania Rd., Hayward.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library branch.
New in Bass Lake? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bass Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $143K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $86K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $143K 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 758 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bass Lake | Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library fine-free | — | 43 | B |
| Chief Lake | Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library fine-free | — | 43 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sand Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Hayward | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Reserve | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Couderay | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Little Round Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library serves 2,595 people in and around Bass Lake, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bass Lake.
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 Bass Lake
Does Bass Lake have a public library?
Yes. Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library, 13466 W. Trepania Rd., serves 2,595 people in and around Bass Lake (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community 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 Bass Lake’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bass Lake’s civic life grade?
B Bass Lake is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #206 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 Bass Lake.
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.