Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Eagle River’s library logs 6.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Walter E. Olson Memorial Library serves 10,585 people in and around Eagle River. Last year it lent 80K books, movies and e-books and logged 66K visits.
Eagle River’s library, in brief
Busy on a lean budget
Walter E. Olson Memorial Library spends $29 per resident, less than 72% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still busier than 76% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
26% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 74%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 341 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 127 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Walter E. Olson Memorial Library serves 10,585 people in and around Eagle River, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Eagle River’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Eagle River is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Eagle River is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Eagle River’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 Eagle River
7.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Eagle River’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 Eagle River’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Walter E. Olson Memorial Library system. 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.
Walter E. Olson Memorial Library serves 10,585 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
80K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
25,343 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Walter E. Olson Memorial Library, 203 N. Main Street, Eagle River.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Walter E. Olson Memorial Library branch.
New in Eagle River? 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 $4.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Eagle River cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $306K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $306K 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 5,458 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagle River | Walter E. Olson Memorial Library fine-free | — | 51 | A− |
| Lincoln | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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.
- System-wide. Walter E. Olson Memorial Library serves 10,585 people in and around Eagle River, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Eagle River.
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 Eagle River
Does Eagle River have a public library?
Yes. Walter E. Olson Memorial Library, 203 N. Main Street, serves 10,585 people in and around Eagle River (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Walter E. Olson Memorial 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 Eagle River’s library?
It logged 6.3 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Eagle River’s civic life grade?
A− Eagle River is ahead of 82% 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 Eagle River.
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.