Jacob Weber House · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0Wisconsin Dells’ library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Kilbourn Public Library serves 7,640 people in and around Wisconsin Dells. Last year it lent 75K books, movies and e-books and logged 82K visits.
The short version on Wisconsin Dells’s library
The branch is a National Register landmark
Kilbourn Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974. Today’s library there has 22,636 square feet. The building ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Kilbourn Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Kilbourn Public Library spends $87 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Kilbourn Public Library serves 7,640 people in and around Wisconsin Dells, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wisconsin Dells’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wisconsin Dells is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #248 of 358 in Wisconsin State. Wisconsin Dells is graded on two of the three inputs. Wisconsin Dells’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Wisconsin Dells
5.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.3%
5.3% of Wisconsin Dells’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Wisconsin State 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 Wisconsin Dells’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kilbourn Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Kilbourn Public Library serves 7,640 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
75K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
16,556 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
A National Register landmark since 1974
Kilbourn Public Library, 620 Elm St., Wisconsin Dells.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kilbourn Public Library branch.
New in Wisconsin Dells? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Kilbourn Public Library
Kilbourn Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 27, 1974. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Prairie School and Arts and Crafts.
Kilbourn Public Library is a Carnegie library in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin United States. The library was built in 1912 and designed by Claude & Starck, an architectural firm from Madison known for its library plans. The library is designed in the Prairie School style with elements of Arts and Crafts movement architecture. The city of Wisconsin Dells eventually abandoned the library for a new building.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wisconsin Dells cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $664K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $664K 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 5,776 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Dells | Kilbourn Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | C+ |
| Dell Prairie | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Newport | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lyndon | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Delton | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Lake Delton | None of its own | — | — | 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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Kilbourn Public Library serves 7,640 people in and around Wisconsin Dells, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wisconsin Dells.
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 Wisconsin Dells
Does Wisconsin Dells have a public library?
Yes. Kilbourn Public Library, 620 Elm St., serves 7,640 people in and around Wisconsin Dells (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kilbourn 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 Wisconsin Dells’ library?
It logged 10.8 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wisconsin Dells’ civic life grade?
C+ Wisconsin Dells is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #248 of 358 in Wisconsin State. 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 Wisconsin Dells.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.