Photo: Cbradshaw · CC BY-SA 3.0Mercer’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Mercer Public Library serves 2,234 people in and around Mercer. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
Mercer’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Mercer Public Library serves 2,234 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 47 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 ↓
Mercer Public Library serves more than Mercer
The library’s service area covers 2,234 people in and around Mercer, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
62% of the 118 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 22 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Mercer Public Library holds 21,000 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 Mercer’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mercer is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. Mercer is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mercer’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Mercer
14.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
9.0%
9.0% of Mercer’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 Mercer’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mercer Public Library serves 2,234 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
6,081 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
118 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.
Find it
Mercer Public Library, 2648w Margaret St., Mercer.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mercer? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mercer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $172K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $288K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $172K 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 1,551 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mercer ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. 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 |
| Mercer | Mercer Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 47 | A |
| Winchester | Winchester Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sherman | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Oma | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Knight | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Carey | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Agenda | 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 Mercer
Does Mercer have a public library?
Yes. Mercer Public Library, 2648w Margaret St., serves 2,234 people in and around Mercer (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mercer 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 Mercer’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mercer’s civic life grade?
A Mercer is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Mercer.
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.