Door County Library
Sturgeon Bay’s library is the Door County Library, a branch of Door County Library, which serves 30,885 people and lent 319K items last year.
What stands out about Door County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Door County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
319K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
90,581 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
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.
Door County Library serves 30,885 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A National Register landmark since 1988
Door County Library, 107 S. 4th Ave., Sturgeon Bay.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Door County Library branch.
New in Sturgeon Bay? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Free Library
Carnegie Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 29, 1988. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Carnegie Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
More about the building →About 5 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sturgeon Bay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 22,482 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sturgeon Bay | Door County Library | — | 56 |
| Nasewaupee | None of its own | — | — |
| Sevastopol | None of its own | — | — |
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. Door County Library is one branch of Door County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 30,885 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Sturgeon Bay.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.