Forest Lodge Library · Photo: Billertl · CC BY-SA 3.0Cable’s library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Forest Lodge Library serves 1,294 people in and around Cable. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,665 visits.
Cable’s library, in brief
The branch is a National Register landmark
Forest Lodge Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001. Today’s library there has 1,008 square feet. The building ↓
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 37% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 51 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 9 were for children. 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; Forest Lodge Library serves 1,294 people in and around Cable, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Cable’s civic life grade
Cable isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,707 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Forest Lodge Library serves 1,294 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Forest Lodge Library system. The library’s own count.
51 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
A National Register landmark since 2001
Forest Lodge Library, 13450 County Hwy M, Cable.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Forest Lodge Library branch.
New in Cable? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Forest Lodge Library
Forest Lodge Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 11, 2001. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements.
The Forest Lodge Library is located in Cable, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Additionally, it is on the registry of historic buildings for Wisconsin.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cable cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $114K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $217K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $114K 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 1,019 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drummond | Drummond Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 32 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cable | Forest Lodge Library fine-free | — | 39 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Barnes | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Spider Lake | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lenroot | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Namakagon | 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.
- System-wide. Forest Lodge Library serves 1,294 people in and around Cable, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cable.
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 Cable
Does Cable have a public library?
Yes. Forest Lodge Library, 13450 County Hwy M, serves 1,294 people in and around Cable (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Forest Lodge 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 Cable’s library?
It logged 6.7 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cable’s civic life grade?
Cable isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Cable.
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.