Photo: w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0Columbus’ library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Columbus Public Library serves Columbus’s 10,090 residents. Last year it lent 72K books, movies and e-books and logged 67K visits.
Columbus’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
Columbus Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990. Today’s library there has 6,200 square feet. The building ↓
People come to Columbus Public Library a lot
Columbus Public Library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Columbus Public Library logs about 154 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 6 public computers. That’s 5.6 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.
What’s behind Columbus’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbus is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #73 of 358 in Wisconsin. Columbus is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Columbus’ 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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Columbus
9.1 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Columbus’ 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 Columbus’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Columbus Public Library serves 10,090 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
72K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
14,759 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Columbus last year.
A National Register landmark since 1990
Columbus Public Library, 223 W. James St., Columbus.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Columbus? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Columbus Public Library
Columbus Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 15, 1990. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the state level. Its architecture is described as Prairie School. It was listed as part of Public Library Facilities of Wisconsin MPS.
The Columbus Public Library is a Carnegie library in Columbus, Wisconsin. The library was built in 1912 after the Columbus Women's Civic Club convinced the Carnegie Foundation to sponsor a building for the community's library program. Claude and Starck, a Madison architectural firm known for designing libraries, planned the Prairie School building.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbus cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $460K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $460K 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 3,706 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | Columbus Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 52 | A− |
| Elba | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- 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 Columbus
Does Columbus have a public library?
Yes. Columbus Public Library, 223 W. James St., serves Columbus’ 10,090 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Columbus 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 Columbus’ library?
It logged 6.7 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Columbus’ civic life grade?
A− Columbus is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #73 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 Columbus.
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.