Photo: Fredsteve3 · CC BY-SA 4.0Denmark’s library is a branch of Brown County Library, which lends more per resident than 67% of systems its size
Denmark’s library is the Denmark Branch, a branch of Brown County Library, which serves 273,297 people and lent 1.8M items last year.
What stands out about Denmark Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Denmark’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Denmark is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #187 of 358 in Wisconsin. Denmark is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Denmark’s 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Denmark
4.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Denmark’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 Denmark’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Brown County Library serves 273,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brown County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
484,053 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 23 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Denmark Branch, 450 N. Wall St., Denmark.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Brown County Library branch.
New in Denmark? 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 $3.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Denmark cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.3M 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 78,136 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Denmark Branch is one branch of Brown County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 273,297 people it serves.
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 Denmark
Does Denmark have a public library?
Yes: Denmark Branch, 450 N. Wall St., is a branch of Brown County Library, which serves 273,297 people.
Is Brown County 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 Denmark’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Denmark’s civic life grade?
B Denmark is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #187 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 Denmark.
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.