Photo: Awkwafaba · CC BY-SA 3.0Sussex’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Pauline Haass Public Library serves Sussex’s 25,681 residents. Last year it lent 402K books, movies and e-books and logged 127K visits.
What Sussex’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 71 items per child in Sussex last year. Kids & programs ↓
Sussex uses its library more than almost any town its size
Pauline Haass Public Library logs 4.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 427 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Sussex’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sussex is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #74 of 358 in Wisconsin. Sussex 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 →
60 community nonprofits are registered in Sussex
5.0 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.7%
9.7% of Sussex’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 Sussex’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Sussex last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pauline Haass Public Library serves 25,681 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 135 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
402K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 102K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.4 times last year, on average.
52,325 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Pauline Haass Public Library, N64w23820 Main St., Sussex.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sussex? 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 $4.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sussex cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 10,689 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sussex | Pauline Haass Public Library | 15.7 | 57 | A− |
| Lisbon | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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 Sussex
Does Sussex have a public library?
Yes. Pauline Haass Public Library, N64w23820 Main St., serves Sussex’s 25,681 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pauline Haass 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 Sussex’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 15.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sussex’s civic life grade?
A− Sussex is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #74 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 Sussex.
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.