Photo: Arnmhs · CC BY-SA 4.0Menasha’s library lends 6.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Elisha D. Smith Public Library serves Menasha’s 22,659 residents. Last year it lent 204K books, movies and e-books and logged 66K visits.
The short version on Menasha’s library
Open about 69 hours a week
Elisha D. Smith Public Library is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 68 items go out. The building ↓
Menasha invests in its library
Elisha D. Smith Public Library spends $84 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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.
What’s behind Menasha’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Menasha is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #223 of 358 in Wisconsin. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
73 community nonprofits are registered in Menasha
4.0 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Menasha’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 Menasha’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Menasha cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 9,112 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Elisha D. Smith Public Library serves 22,659 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 68 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
204K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 105K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
52,804 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Menasha last year.
Find it
Elisha D. Smith Public Library, 440 First St., Menasha.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Menasha? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Menasha ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neenah | Neenah Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 67 | A− |
| Menasha | Elisha D. Smith Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 69 | B− |
| Appleton | Appleton Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 66 | B+ |
| Fox Crossing | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Harrison | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Harrison | 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.
- 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 Menasha
Does Menasha have a public library?
Yes. Elisha D. Smith Public Library, 440 First St., serves Menasha’s 22,659 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elisha D. Smith 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 Menasha’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 9.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Menasha’s civic life grade?
B− Menasha is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #223 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 Menasha.
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.