Photo: User:Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 2.5Plain’s library logs 8.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Kraemer Library & Community Center serves Plain’s 2,594 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Plain’s library
People come to Kraemer Library & Community Center a lot
Kraemer Library & Community Center logs 8.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 125 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 48 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Kraemer Library & Community Center logs about 127 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 6 public computers. That’s 18 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Plain’s civic life grade
Plain isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Kraemer Library & Community Center serves 2,594 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
2,707 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Plain last year.
Find it
Kraemer Library & Community Center, 910 Main St., Plain.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Plain? 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 $2.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plain cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $178K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $455K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $178K 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 680 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Plain
Does Plain have a public library?
Yes. Kraemer Library & Community Center, 910 Main St., serves Plain’s 2,594 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kraemer Library & Community Center 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 Plain’s library?
It logged 8.6 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Plain’s civic life grade?
Plain isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Plain.
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.