Photo: WorldIslandInfo.com · CC BY 2.0Neenah’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Neenah Public Library serves Neenah’s 57,278 residents. Last year it lent 785K books, movies and e-books and logged 241K visits.
What Neenah’s library is like
Neenah is a town of borrowers
Neenah Public Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 3.4 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 42 items per child in Neenah last year. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Neenah Public Library is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 225 items go out. The building ↓
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 Neenah’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Neenah is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #108 of 358 in Wisconsin. Neenah is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Neenah’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 →
142 community nonprofits are registered in Neenah
5.2 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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Neenah’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 Neenah’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
785K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 188K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.4 times last year, on average.
149,737 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Neenah Public Library serves 57,278 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 225 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 9 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 Neenah last year.
Find it
Neenah Public Library, 240 E. Wisconsin Ave., Neenah.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Neenah? 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 $4.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Neenah cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 25,848 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neenah | Neenah Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 67 | A− |
| Menasha | Elisha D. Smith Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 69 | B− |
| Vinland | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Fox Crossing | 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 Neenah
Does Neenah have a public library?
Yes. Neenah Public Library, 240 E. Wisconsin Ave., serves Neenah’s 57,278 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Neenah 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 Neenah’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 13.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Neenah’s civic life grade?
A− Neenah is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #108 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 Neenah.
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.