Albert and Theresa Marx House · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0Cashton’s library runs 43 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Cashton Memorial Library serves Cashton’s 3,532 residents. Last year it lent 15K print books and media and drew 1,409 people to its programs.
What stands out about Cashton’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Cashton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cashton is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Cashton is graded on two of the three inputs. Cashton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Cashton’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Cashton
4.5 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Cashton’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 Cashton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Cashton Memorial Library serves 3,532 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
15K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 6,375 books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
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 Cashton last year.
Find it
Cashton Memorial Library, 720 Broadway St., Cashton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cashton? 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 $2.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cashton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $91K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $238K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $91K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 689 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.
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Cashton Memorial Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Cashton
Does Cashton have a public library?
Yes. Cashton Memorial Library, 720 Broadway St., serves Cashton’s 3,532 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cashton Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cashton’s library?
It lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024 (print) and ran 151 programs that drew 1,409 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Cashton’s civic life grade?
B− Cashton is ahead of 46% 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 Cashton.
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.