Photo: VazDrae · CC BY-SA 3.0Black Earth’s library logs 7.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Black Earth Public Library serves Black Earth’s 2,395 residents. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
The short version on Black Earth’s library
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 185 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Black Earth Public Library logs about 198 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 4 public computers. That’s 30 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Black Earth’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Black Earth is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Black Earth is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Black Earth near the top nationally; Black Earth’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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Black Earth
12.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
13.8%
13.8% of Black Earth’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 Black Earth’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
8,726 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Black Earth Public Library serves 2,395 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Black Earth last year.
Find it
Black Earth Public Library, 1210 Mills St., Black Earth.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Black Earth? 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 $3.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Black Earth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $216K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $696K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $216K 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 1,121 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 Black Earth
Does Black Earth have a public library?
Yes. Black Earth Public Library, 1210 Mills St., serves Black Earth’s 2,395 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Black Earth 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 Black Earth’s library?
It logged 7.9 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Black Earth’s civic life grade?
A+ Black Earth is among the top 1% 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 Black Earth.
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.