Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Cross Plains’ library lends 8.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Rosemary Garfoot Public Library serves Cross Plains’s 7,315 residents. Last year it lent 78K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
The short version on Cross Plains’s library
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 28 items per child in Cross Plains last year. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Rosemary Garfoot Public Library logs about 218 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 8 public computers. That’s 11 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 Cross Plains’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cross Plains is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #21 of 358 in Wisconsin. Cross Plains is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Cross Plains’ 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Cross Plains
7.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.2%
10.2% of Cross Plains’ 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 Cross Plains’ residents live; 2022.
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 Cross Plains last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rosemary Garfoot Public Library serves 7,315 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
78K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 54K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
15,781 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rosemary Garfoot Public Library, 2107 Julius St., Cross Plains.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cross Plains? 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 $3.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cross Plains cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $445K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $445K 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 2,975 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross Plains | Rosemary Garfoot Public Library fine-free | 10.6 | 52 | A |
| Berry | None of its own | — | — | B |
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 Cross Plains
Does Cross Plains have a public library?
Yes. Rosemary Garfoot Public Library, 2107 Julius St., serves Cross Plains’ 7,315 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rosemary Garfoot 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 Cross Plains’ library?
It logged 6.3 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Cross Plains’ civic life grade?
A Cross Plains is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #21 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 Cross Plains.
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.