Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Merrill’s library lends 5.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
T.B. Scott Free Library serves Merrill’s 19,810 residents. Last year it lent 133K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
What stands out about Merrill’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Merrill’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Merrill is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #79 of 358 in Wisconsin. Merrill is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Merrill
4.6 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.2%
10.2% of Merrill’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 Merrill’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1974
T.B. Scott Free Library, 106 W. First St., Merrill.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Merrill? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
T. B. Scott Free Library
Scott, T. B., Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 21, 1974. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Prairie School.
The T.B. Scott Free Library is a public library in the city of Merrill, Wisconsin. The building, completed in 1911, was designed by the firm of Claude and Starck and funded with $17,500 from the Carnegie Corporation. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Prior to the construction of its own building in 1964, the library was housed at Merrill City Hall.
More about the building →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.
T.B. Scott Free Library serves 19,810 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
133K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 66K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
28,201 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Merrill last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Merrill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 8,325 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrill | T.B. Scott Free Library | 6.7 | 48 | A− |
| Scott | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Pine River | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Merrill
Does Merrill have a public library?
Yes. T.B. Scott Free Library, 106 W. First St., serves Merrill’s 19,810 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is T.B. Scott Free Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Merrill’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Merrill’s civic life grade?
A− Merrill is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #79 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 Merrill.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.