DeForest’s library runs 54 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Deforest Area Public Library serves DeForest’s 21,226 residents. Last year it lent 251K books, movies and e-books and logged 112K visits.
What DeForest’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 38 items per child in DeForest last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
37,000 people came to the library’s 1,151 programs last year: 1.8 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
DeForest is a town of borrowers
Deforest Area Public Library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Deforest Area Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 75 items go out. The building ↓
A place to get online
Deforest Area Public Library logs about 262 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 14 public computers. That’s 4.5 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 DeForest’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, DeForest is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #173 of 358 in Wisconsin. DeForest is graded on two of the three inputs. DeForest’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in DeForest
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of DeForest’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 DeForest’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 DeForest last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Deforest Area Public Library serves 21,226 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 75 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
251K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 78K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
53,489 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Deforest Area Public Library, 203 Library St., Deforest.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in DeForest? 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 $3.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average DeForest cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 9,007 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.
- 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 DeForest
Does DeForest have a public library?
Yes. Deforest Area Public Library, 203 Library St., serves DeForest’s 21,226 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Deforest Area Public 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 DeForest’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is DeForest’s civic life grade?
B DeForest is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #173 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 DeForest.
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.