Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Sauk City’s library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
George Culver Community Library serves Sauk City’s 6,322 residents. Last year it lent 97K books, movies and e-books and logged 87K visits.
What Sauk City’s library is like
Sauk City uses its library more than almost any town its size
George Culver Community Library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 45% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 47 items per child in Sauk City last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 209 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 20% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
George Culver Community Library logs about 247 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 7 public computers. That’s 14 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 Sauk City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sauk City is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #69 of 358 in Wisconsin. Sauk City 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Sauk City
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.
9.7%
9.7% of Sauk City’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 Sauk City’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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
George Culver Community Library serves 6,322 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
97K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 40K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
19,626 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Sauk City last year.
Find it
George Culver Community Library, 615 Phillips Blvd., Sauk City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sauk City? 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 $3.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sauk City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $451K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $451K 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 3,842 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauk City | George Culver Community Library fine-free | 15.4 | 58 | A− |
| Prairie du Sac | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Mazomanie | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Roxbury | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Sauk City
Does Sauk City have a public library?
Yes. George Culver Community Library, 615 Phillips Blvd., serves Sauk City’s 6,322 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is George 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 Sauk City’s library?
It logged 13.7 visits and lent 15.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sauk City’s civic life grade?
A− Sauk City is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #69 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 Sauk City.
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.