Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Iron Ridge’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Iron Ridge Public Library serves Iron Ridge’s 1,194 residents. Last year it lent 2,704 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,046 visits.
The short version on Iron Ridge’s library
Iron Ridge Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Iron Ridge Public Library records 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Iron Ridge Public Library serves 1,194 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 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 ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Iron Ridge Public Library holds 25,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Iron Ridge’s civic life grade
Iron Ridge isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Iron Ridge Public Library serves 1,194 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,704 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
795 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
22 programs a year
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 Iron Ridge last year.
Find it
Iron Ridge Public Library, 205 Park St., Iron Ridge.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Iron Ridge? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Iron Ridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $54K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $44K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54K 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 598 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.
- 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 Iron Ridge
Does Iron Ridge have a public library?
Yes. Iron Ridge Public Library, 205 Park St., serves Iron Ridge’s 1,194 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Iron Ridge 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 Iron Ridge’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Iron Ridge’s civic life grade?
Iron Ridge isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Iron Ridge.
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.