Photo: Corey Coyle · CC BY 3.0Monona’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Monona Public Library serves Monona’s 10,467 residents. Last year it lent 211K books, movies and e-books and logged 122K visits.
The short version on Monona’s library
Monona’s kids borrow the most in Wisconsin
Out of 30 Wisconsin towns with a library of their own, Monona comes first for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #1 for library use and #3 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Monona uses its library more than almost any town its size
Monona Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 56 items per child in Monona last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
27,000 people came to the library’s 489 programs last year: 2.6 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 19% of all loans. 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.
What’s behind Monona’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Monona is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #109 of 358 in Wisconsin. Library visits hold the grade up; Monona’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Monona
2.8 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.4%
10.4% of Monona’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 Monona’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Monona last year.
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.
Monona Public Library serves 10,467 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
211K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 49K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.5 times last year, on average.
39,920 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Monona Public Library, 1000 Nichols Rd., Monona.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Monona? 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 $4.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monona cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $918K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $918K 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 7,571 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monona | Monona Public Library fine-free | 20.1 | 62 | A− |
| Madison | Madison Public Library fine-free | 10.3 | 68 | A− |
| Blooming Grove | None of its own | — | — | C |
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 Monona
Does Monona have a public library?
Yes. Monona Public Library, 1000 Nichols Rd., serves Monona’s 10,467 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monona 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 Monona’s library?
It logged 11.6 visits and lent 20.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Monona’s civic life grade?
A− Monona is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #109 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 Monona.
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.