Photo: Edit6212 · CC BY-SA 4.0Prairie du Sac’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Ruth Culver Community Library serves Prairie du Sac’s 7,289 residents. Last year it lent 100K books, movies and e-books and logged 79K visits.
The short version on Prairie du Sac’s library
Prairie du Sac uses its library more than almost any town its size
Ruth Culver Community Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 40 items per child in Prairie du Sac last year. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Tripp Memorial Library and Hall has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. Today’s library there has 13,490 square feet. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 20% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Ruth Culver Community Library logs about 400 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 13 public computers. That’s 20 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 Prairie du Sac’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Prairie du Sac is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #102 of 358 in Wisconsin. Prairie du Sac is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Prairie du Sac’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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Prairie du Sac
5.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of Prairie du Sac’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 Prairie du Sac’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ruth Culver Community Library serves 7,289 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
100K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
19,806 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Prairie du Sac last year.
A National Register landmark since 1981
Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 Water St., Prairie Du Sac.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Prairie du Sac? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Tripp Memorial Library and Hall
Tripp Memorial Library and Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 14, 1981. It is significant for its social history at the local level.
The Tripp Memorial Library and Hall is a historic building at 565 Water Street in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The building was constructed in 1912–13 to serve as Prairie du Sac's public library and village hall; the library had previously occupied two rooms of a local hotel. J.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prairie du Sac cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $683K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $683K 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 4,226 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie du Sac | Ruth Culver Community Library fine-free | 13.7 | 60 | A− |
| Roxbury | None of its own | — | — | A |
| West Point | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Lake Wisconsin | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Prairie du Sac
Does Prairie du Sac have a public library?
Yes. Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 Water St., serves Prairie du Sac’s 7,289 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ruth Culver Community 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 Prairie du Sac’s library?
It logged 10.9 visits and lent 13.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Prairie du Sac’s civic life grade?
A− Prairie du Sac is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #102 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 Prairie du Sac.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.