Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Wabeno’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Wabeno Public Library serves 1,370 people in and around Wabeno. Last year it lent 2,445 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,953 visits.
What Wabeno’s library is like
Wabeno Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Wabeno Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $26 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Wabeno Public Library offered 5 programs last year, 3.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Wabeno Public Library serves 1,370 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 20% of the people Wabeno Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Wabeno Public Library serves more than Wabeno
The library’s service area covers 1,370 people in and around Wabeno, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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.
What’s behind Wabeno’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wabeno is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Wabeno is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Wabeno’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Wabeno
6.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.7%
9.7% of Wabeno’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 Wabeno’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Wabeno Public Library serves 1,370 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,445 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,877 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
599 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
5 programs a year
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.
Find it
Wabeno Public Library, 4556 N. Branch St., Wabeno.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wabeno? 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 $1.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wabeno cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $35K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $45K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35K 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 273 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laona | Edith Evans Community Library | 2.9 | 31 | B+ |
| Wabeno | Wabeno Public Library fine-free | 1.8 | 24 | A |
| Lakewood | Lakes Country Public Library | — | 48 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Blackwell | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Silver Cliff | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Freedom | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Townsend | 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 Wabeno
Does Wabeno have a public library?
Yes. Wabeno Public Library, 4556 N. Branch St., serves 1,370 people in and around Wabeno (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wabeno 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 Wabeno’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Wabeno’s civic life grade?
A Wabeno is ahead of 90% 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 Wabeno.
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.