Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Taylor

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Taylor Memorial Library

Taylor’s library runs 22 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size

Taylor Memorial Library serves Taylor’s 547 residents. Last year it lent 1,700 print books and media and logged 1,211 visits.

420 2nd St., Taylor 54659 · about 22 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: fewer than 1,000 residents
Borrowed a year
1,700
3.1 per resident
Visits a year
1,211
2.2 per resident · Below typical (3.5)
Programs & events
12
about 1 a week · 707 attended
Cardholders
42%
231 cards
Open
22 hrs
a week
In brief

The short version on Taylor’s library

A small-town library

Taylor Memorial Library serves 547 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓

Open only about 22 hours a week

Taylor Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓

A place to get online

Taylor Memorial Library logs about 20 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 6 public computers. That’s 13 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Taylor’s civic life grade

Taylor isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Taylor’s overall grade.

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 →

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.2 visits · typical 3.5Lower than 71%
Borrowing per resident 3.1 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 59%
Kids’ borrowing 0.8 kids’ items · typical 1.4Lower than 67%
Program attendance 1.3 attendees · typical 0.7Higher than 72%
Programs offered 21.9 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Lower than 76%
Cardholders 42% of residents · typical 54%Lower than 63%
Spending $60 per resident · typical $54Higher than 57%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Taylor Memorial Library serves 547 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

1,211
visits
2.2 per resident
1,700
loans, print + digital
3.1 per resident
12
programs & events
707 attended
231
library cards
42% of people served
Every open hour1items borrowed
Every week14people at a program
Every day20Wi-Fi sessions
1 staff (full-time equivalent)6 public computers6,994 books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

1,700 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

1,700loans
Books & media (adults) 76%Kids’ books & media 24%
How hard the shelves work
0.2×

Each of the 6,994 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.

From your couch

Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

12 programs a year

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

Schools in Taylor →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–50
Ages 6–111
Teens0
Adults1
All ages10
414
kids’ books & media borrowed
707
people at programs
12
programs
The building

Find it

Taylor Memorial Library, 420 2nd St., Taylor.

22
hours open a week
1,740
square feet
6,994
books & media
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Taylor? 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 $1.72 worth

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

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
3
Your card saves you about
$312
a year at retail prices · $26 a month

Who pays for it
$60 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $33K.

Local taxes 100%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $56K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $33K 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 231 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.

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 Taylor

Does Taylor have a public library?

Yes. Taylor Memorial Library, 420 2nd St., serves Taylor’s 547 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Taylor Memorial 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 Taylor’s library?

It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Taylor’s civic life grade?

Taylor isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Taylor.

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.