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Cushing Land Agency BuildingCushing Land Agency Building · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0
St. Croix Falls Public Library

St. Croix Falls’ library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size

St. Croix Falls Public Library serves St. Croix Falls’s 5,087 residents. Last year it lent 49K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.

230 S. Washington St., St. Croix Falls 54024 · about 49 hours a week
A+Civic lifeAhead of 97% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
49K
9.7 per resident
Visits a year
35K
6.8 per resident · Above typical (3)
Programs & events
63
about 1 a week · 927 attended
Cardholders
44%
2,234 cards
Open
49 hrs
a week

What stands out about St. Croix Falls’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind St. Croix Falls’ civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Croix Falls is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. St. Croix Falls 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.

A+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of St. Croix Falls’ overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 97%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $49K–$82K (8,603)Ahead of 96%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. St. Croix Falls is small (2,370 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

18 community nonprofits are registered in St. Croix Falls

7.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.91 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.91 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans31.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services20.74 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.54 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health31.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.54 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other31.28 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

12.6%

12.6% of St. Croix Falls’ 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 St. Croix Falls’ residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

35K
visits
6.8 per resident
49K
loans, print + digital
9.7 per resident
63
programs & events
927 attended
2,234
library cards
44% of people served
Every open hour19items borrowed
Every week18people at a program
Every day29Wi-Fi sessions
4 staff (full-time equivalent)15 public computers22K books & media on the shelves
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 6.8 visits · typical 3Higher than 85%
Borrowing per resident 7.4 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 82%
Digital borrowing 2.3 e-items · typical 1Higher than 82%
Kids’ borrowing 3.4 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 81%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 80%
Programs offered 12.4 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 81%
Cardholders 44% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 53%
Spending $52 per resident · typical $43Higher than 62%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

St. Croix Falls Public Library serves 5,087 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

49K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

49Kloans
Books & media (adults) 41%Kids’ books & media 35%E-books, audio & streaming 24%
How hard the shelves work
1.7×

Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.

From your couch

11,808 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 1 kids’ program a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in St. Croix Falls →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–537
Ages 6–1117
Teens0
Adults3
All ages6
Little ones
0.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
37

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in St. Croix Falls last year.

927
people at programs
63
programs
The building

Find it

St. Croix Falls Public Library, 230 S. Washington St., St. Croix Falls.

49
hours open a week
7,500
square feet
22K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in St. Croix Falls? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.92 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Croix Falls cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$348
a year at retail prices · $29 a month

Who pays for it
$52 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $264K.

Local taxes 97%Federal 1%Gifts & other 2%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $771K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $264K 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 2,234 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
St. Croix FallsSt. Croix Falls Public Library fine-free9.749A+
Taylors FallsTaylors Falls Public Library fine-free0.8—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).

How to read these numbers

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 St. Croix Falls

Does St. Croix Falls have a public library?

Yes. St. Croix Falls Public Library, 230 S. Washington St., serves St. Croix Falls’ 5,087 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is St. Croix Falls Public 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 St. Croix Falls’ library?

It logged 6.8 visits and lent 9.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is St. Croix Falls’ civic life grade?

A+ St. Croix Falls is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 St. Croix Falls.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.