Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Menominee’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library serves 4,272 people in and around Menominee. Last year it lent 2,239 print books and media and logged 4,151 visits.
The short version on Menominee’s library
S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
45% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 28%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
82% of the 66 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. One was for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library serves 4,272 people in and around Menominee, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Menominee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Menominee is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #222 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Menominee
4.6 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.6%
10.6% of Menominee’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 Menominee’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library serves 4,272 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,239 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
66 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library, N172 Hwy. 47/55, Keshena.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library branch.
New in Menominee? 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 Menominee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $187K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $37K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $187K 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 2,657 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menominee | S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library fine-free | — | 36 | B− |
| Red Springs | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Legend Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Bartelme | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wescott | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Underhill | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Norwood | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Polar | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Richmond | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Evergreen | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hutchins | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library serves 4,272 people in and around Menominee, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Menominee.
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 Menominee
Does Menominee have a public library?
Yes. S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee Public Library, N172 Hwy. 47/55, serves 4,272 people in and around Menominee (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is S. Verna Fowler Academic Library / Menominee 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 Menominee’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 0.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Menominee’s civic life grade?
B− Menominee is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #222 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 Menominee.
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.