Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Fox Lake’s library runs 43 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Fox Lake Public Library serves Fox Lake’s 2,557 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,411 visits.
What stands out about Fox Lake’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fox Lake’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fox Lake is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns. Fox Lake is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Fox Lake’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($56K–$94K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Fox Lake
2.7 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.6%
5.6% of Fox Lake’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 Fox Lake’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fox Lake Public Library serves 2,557 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
3,405 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Fox Lake last year.
Find it
Fox Lake Public Library, 117 W. State St., Fox Lake.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fox Lake? 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 $1.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fox Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $174K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $253K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $174K 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 1,179 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Fox Lake
Does Fox Lake have a public library?
Yes. Fox Lake Public Library, 117 W. State St., serves Fox Lake’s 2,557 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fox Lake Public 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 Fox Lake’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fox Lake’s civic life grade?
C− Fox Lake is ahead of 15% 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 Fox Lake.
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.