Big Sand Lake Club · Photo: Sa magnuson33 · CC BY-SA 3.0Phelps’ library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Eleanor Ellis Public Library serves Phelps’s 1,240 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What Phelps’s library is like
A small-town library
Eleanor Ellis Public Library serves 1,240 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 31 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 65%. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Phelps’ civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Phelps is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Phelps is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Phelps near the top nationally; Phelps’ 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Phelps
12.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
4,487 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Eleanor Ellis Public Library serves 1,240 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
64 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Phelps last year.
Find it
Eleanor Ellis Public Library, 4495 Town Hall Rd., Phelps.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Phelps? 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 $2.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Phelps cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $103K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $255K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $103K 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 678 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land O'Lakes | Land O' Lakes Public Library fine-free | 28.9 | 36 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Phelps | Eleanor Ellis Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 31 | A+ |
| Conover | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Watersmeet Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Hiles | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Washington | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Alvin | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stambaugh Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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 Phelps
Does Phelps have a public library?
Yes. Eleanor Ellis Public Library, 4495 Town Hall Rd., serves Phelps’ 1,240 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eleanor Ellis 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 Phelps’ library?
It logged 8.9 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Phelps’ civic life grade?
A+ Phelps is among the top 1% 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 Phelps.
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.