Rome’s library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Lester Public Library of Rome serves Rome’s 3,204 residents. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
What Rome’s library is like
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
People come to Lester Public Library of Rome a lot
Lester Public Library of Rome logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Lester Public Library of Rome logs about 51 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 8 public computers. That’s 5.8 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 221 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 62 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Rome invests in its library
Lester Public Library of Rome spends $89 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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 Rome’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rome is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #183 of 358 in Wisconsin. Library visits hold the grade up; Rome’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Rome
2.8 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Rome’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 Rome’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 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.
Lester Public Library of Rome serves 3,204 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
9,405 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Rome last year.
Find it
Lester Public Library of Rome, 1157 Rome Center Dr., Nekoosa.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rome? 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 $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rome cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $286K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $516K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $286K 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 1,497 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome | Lester Public Library of Rome fine-free | 8.9 | 51 | B |
| Armenia | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Leola | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Saratoga | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Big Flats | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Monroe | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Colburn | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Port Edwards | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lester Public Library of Rome counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Rome
Does Rome have a public library?
Yes. Lester Public Library of Rome, 1157 Rome Center Dr., serves Rome’s 3,204 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lester Public Library of Rome 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 Rome’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 8.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rome’s civic life grade?
B Rome is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #183 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 Rome.
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.