Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Fond du Lac’s library logs 3.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Fond Du Lac Public Library serves Fond du Lac’s 70,889 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 503K books, movies and e-books and logged 259K visits.
What stands out about Fond du Lac’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fond du Lac’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fond du Lac is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #247 of 358 in Wisconsin. Fond du Lac is graded on two of the three inputs. Fond du Lac’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
169 community nonprofits are registered in Fond du Lac
3.8 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 (39 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Fond du Lac’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 Fond du Lac’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fond Du Lac Public Library serves 70,889 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 105 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
503K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 198K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
129,904 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Fond du Lac last year.
2 places to borrow in Fond du Lac
Fond Du Lac Public Library, 32 Sheboygan St., Fond Du Lac.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fond du Lac? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Fond du Lac
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fond du Lac cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 20,435 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fond du Lac | Fond Du Lac Public Library | 7.1 | 64 | C+ |
| North Fond du Lac | Spillman Public Library | 5.2 | 44 | C− |
| Taycheedah | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Empire | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Friendship | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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 Fond du Lac
Does Fond du Lac have a public library?
Yes. Fond Du Lac Public Library, 32 Sheboygan St., serves Fond du Lac’s 70,889 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fond Du Lac 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 Fond du Lac’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fond du Lac’s civic life grade?
C+ Fond du Lac is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #247 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 Fond du Lac.
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.