Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0Rochester’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Rochester Public Library serves Rochester’s 6,216 residents. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What Rochester’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 103 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 73% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 81% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Rochester Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 78% of similar-size libraries. 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 Rochester’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rochester is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #146 of 358 in Wisconsin. Rochester is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Rochester
3.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Rochester’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 Rochester’s residents live; 2022.
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 Rochester last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rochester Public Library serves 6,216 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
2,090 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rochester Public Library, 208 W. Spring St., Rochester.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rochester? 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 $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rochester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $190K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $449K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $190K 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 1,087 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterford | Waterford Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | 44 | B+ |
| Rochester | Rochester Public Library | 5.0 | 47 | B+ |
| Spring Prairie | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Waterford | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Dover | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Burlington | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Tichigan | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Norway | 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 Rochester
Does Rochester have a public library?
Yes. Rochester Public Library, 208 W. Spring St., serves Rochester’s 6,216 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rochester Public Library 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 Rochester’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rochester’s civic life grade?
B+ Rochester is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #146 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 Rochester.
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.