Wood County Courthouse · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0Wisconsin Rapids’ library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Mcmillan Memorial Library serves Wisconsin Rapids’s 36,036 residents. Last year it lent 290K books, movies and e-books and logged 139K visits.
Wisconsin Rapids’s library, in brief
A place to get online
Mcmillan Memorial Library logs about 841 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 31 public computers. That’s 8.5 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
61% of the 574 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 141 were for children. 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 Wisconsin Rapids’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wisconsin Rapids is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #172 of 358 in Wisconsin State. Wisconsin Rapids is graded on two of the three inputs. Wisconsin Rapids’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
93 community nonprofits are registered in Wisconsin Rapids
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 (16 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.
7.4%
7.4% of Wisconsin Rapids’ 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 Rapids’ residents live; 2022.
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.
Mcmillan Memorial Library serves 36,036 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
290K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 83K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
58,382 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 Wisconsin Rapids last year.
Find it
Mcmillan Memorial Library, 490 E. Grand Ave., Wisconsin Rapids.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wisconsin Rapids? 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 $2.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wisconsin Rapids cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 14,406 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 Rapids | Mcmillan Memorial Library fine-free | 8.0 | 61 | B |
| Grand Rapids | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Biron | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Seneca | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Port Edwards | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Rudolph | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Sigel | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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 Wisconsin Rapids
Does Wisconsin Rapids have a public library?
Yes. Mcmillan Memorial Library, 490 E. Grand Ave., serves Wisconsin Rapids’ 36,036 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mcmillan Memorial 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 Rapids’ library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wisconsin Rapids’ civic life grade?
B Wisconsin Rapids is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #172 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 Rapids.
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.