F.J. Robers Library
French Island’s library is the F.J. Robers Library, a branch of La Crosse County Library, which serves 71,117 people and lent 500K items last year.
What stands out about F.J. Robers Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole La Crosse County Library system. The library’s own count.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average French Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 26,604 cardholders ÷ 12.
Find it
F.J. Robers Library, 2548 Lakeshore Dr., La Crosse.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every La Crosse County Library branch.
New in French Island? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Strongest at visits per resident
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
La Crosse County Library serves 71,117 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
500K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
118,363 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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.
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.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
- System-wide. F.J. Robers Library is one branch of La Crosse County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 71,117 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in French Island.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.