Nicolaus H. Hultin House · Photo: Csgaylord · CC BY-SA 3.0Lac du Flambeau’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library serves 3,674 people in and around Lac du Flambeau. Last year it lent 1,052 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,933 visits.
What Lac du Flambeau’s library is like
Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library offered 14 programs last year, 3.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library serves 3,674 people in and around Lac du Flambeau, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lac du Flambeau’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lac du Flambeau is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #305 of 358 in Wisconsin. Lac du Flambeau’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$71K) 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Lac du Flambeau
4.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Lac du Flambeau’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 Lac du Flambeau’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library serves 3,674 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,052 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
349 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
14 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library, 622 Peace Pipe Rd., Lac Du Flambeau.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library branch.
New in Lac du Flambeau? 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 Lac du Flambeau cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $182K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $32K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $182K 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 538 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manitowish Waters | Frank B. Koller Memorial Library fine-free | 15.4 | 34 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Minocqua | Minocqua Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 55 | A− |
| Boulder Junction | Boulder Junction Public Library fine-free | 9.3 | 32 | — too few inputs |
| Lac du Flambeau | Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library fine-free | — | 41 | C |
| Arbor Vitae | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Sherman | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Woodruff | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Fifield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library serves 3,674 people in and around Lac du Flambeau, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lac du Flambeau.
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 Lac du Flambeau
Does Lac du Flambeau have a public library?
Yes. Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library, 622 Peace Pipe Rd., serves 3,674 people in and around Lac du Flambeau (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau 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 Lac du Flambeau’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lac du Flambeau’s civic life grade?
C Lac du Flambeau is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #305 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 Lac du Flambeau.
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.