Photo: Asher Heimermann · CC BY 3.0Two Rivers’ library lends 6.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lester Public Library serves Two Rivers’s 17,444 residents. Last year it lent 128K books, movies and e-books and logged 71K visits.
What stands out about Two Rivers’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Two Rivers’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Two Rivers is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #144 of 358 in Wisconsin. Two Rivers 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Two Rivers
4.3 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.1%
9.1% of Two Rivers’ 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 Two Rivers’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lester Public Library serves 17,444 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
128K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 101K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
22,152 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 Two Rivers last year.
Find it
Lester Public Library, 1001 Adams St., Two Rivers.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Two Rivers? 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 $2.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Two Rivers cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $974K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $974K 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 5,144 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.
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 Two Rivers
Does Two Rivers have a public library?
Yes. Lester Public Library, 1001 Adams St., serves Two Rivers’ 17,444 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lester 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 Two Rivers’ library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Two Rivers’ civic life grade?
B+ Two Rivers is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #144 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 Two Rivers.
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.