Minocqua’s library lends 9.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Minocqua Public Library serves 12,427 people in and around Minocqua. Last year it lent 153K books, movies and e-books and logged 76K visits.
Minocqua’s library, in brief
Minocqua uses its library more than almost any town its size
Minocqua Public Library logs 6.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 9.2 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Minocqua Public Library serves more than Minocqua
The library’s service area covers 12,427 people in and around Minocqua, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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.
What’s behind Minocqua’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Minocqua is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #121 of 358 in Wisconsin. Minocqua is graded on two of the three inputs. Minocqua’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Minocqua
10.0 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Minocqua’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 Minocqua’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
153K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 50K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
38,838 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Minocqua Public Library serves 12,427 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 54 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 5 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.
Find it
Minocqua Public Library, 415 Menominee St., Ste. 100, Minocqua.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Minocqua? 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 $4.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Minocqua cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $561K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $561K 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 8,065 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minocqua | Minocqua Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 55 | A− |
| Lac du Flambeau | Ben Guthrie--Lac Du Flambeau Public Library fine-free | — | 41 | C |
| Woodruff | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Hazelhurst | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Little Rice | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lynne | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Emery | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| 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.
- 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 Minocqua
Does Minocqua have a public library?
Yes. Minocqua Public Library, 415 Menominee St., Ste. 100, serves 12,427 people in and around Minocqua (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Minocqua 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 Minocqua’s library?
It logged 6.1 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Minocqua’s civic life grade?
A− Minocqua is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #121 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 Minocqua.
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.