Elroy’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Elroy Public Library serves Elroy’s 2,244 residents. Last year it lent 20K print books and media and logged 28K visits.
What Elroy’s library is like
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Elroy Public Library ran 593 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 264 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 6,611 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Elroy Public Library serves 2,244 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 40 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
People come to Elroy Public Library a lot
Elroy Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Elroy Public Library logs about 29 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 7 public computers. That’s 4.7 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 593 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 174 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Elroy’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Elroy is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. Elroy is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Elroy’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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Elroy
8.5 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 Elroy’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 Elroy’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Elroy last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Elroy Public Library serves 2,244 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
20K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Elroy Public Library, 501 Second Main St., Elroy.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Elroy? 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 $2.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elroy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $183K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $391K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $183K 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 1,237 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Elroy
Does Elroy have a public library?
Yes. Elroy Public Library, 501 Second Main St., serves Elroy’s 2,244 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elroy 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 Elroy’s library?
It logged 12.4 visits and lent 8.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Elroy’s civic life grade?
A+ Elroy is ahead of 95% 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 Elroy.
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.