Photo: Bohao Zhao · CC BY 3.0La Crosse’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
La Crosse Public Library serves La Crosse’s 52,115 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 582K books, movies and e-books and logged 233K visits.
What stands out about La Crosse’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind La Crosse’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, La Crosse is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #177 of 358 in Wisconsin. La Crosse’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
318 community nonprofits are registered in La Crosse
6.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (55 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of La Crosse’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 La Crosse’s residents live; 2022.
About 10 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 La Crosse last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
La Crosse Public Library serves 52,115 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 165 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
582K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 123K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.7 times last year, on average.
124,634 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in La Crosse
La Crosse Public Library, 800 Main St., La Crosse.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in La Crosse? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in La Crosse
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average La Crosse cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5M 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 31,726 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Crosse | La Crosse Public Library fine-free | 11.2 | 56 | B |
| Campbell | F.J. Robers Library fine-free | — | 39 | D− |
| French Island | F.J. Robers Library fine-free | — | 39 | — graded as part of its town |
| Onalaska | Onalaska Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | C |
| Shelby | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Medary | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| La Crescent Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Onalaska | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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 La Crosse
Does La Crosse have a public library?
Yes. La Crosse Public Library, 800 Main St., serves La Crosse’s 52,115 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is La Crosse 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 La Crosse’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is La Crosse’s civic life grade?
B La Crosse is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #177 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 La Crosse.
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.