Photo: Tabercil · CC BY 3.0West Grey Public Library draws 1.8 visits per person served, behind 87% of Ontario’s town libraries
West Grey Public Library serves 13,131 people from 3 branches. Its borrowers took out 3.1 items per person served in 2024. Like every Ontario library, it reports one typical week of visits, and the year is that week times 52: an estimate.
C+Civic life#685 of 866 in OntarioWhat Durham’s civic life grade weighs
Civic life in Durham grades C+: #685 of the 866 towns graded in Ontario. A civic life grade combines library visits per resident, registered charities per 1,000 residents and the province’s volunteering rate, and all three exist for Durham.
Informal groups and mutual aid go uncounted.
Sources: provincial statistics, the CRA, Statistics Canada.
30 registered charities are based in Durham, by mailing address
That is 2.1 per 1,000 residents, against 1.4 in the typical Ontario town and 1.4 across Canada. Counting by mailing address favors a service town, where the surrounding area’s charities get their mail, over the suburbs and countryside around it.
32.1%
For 2023, the provincial survey estimates that 32.1% of people in Ontario volunteered formally (likely 31.0% to 33.2%); among the ten provinces the rate goes from 25.2% to 40.3%.
Statistics Canada, table 45-10-0039.
Behind most of Ontario’s town libraries on all 3 measures
Measured per person served against the 195 town libraries of Ontario’s 2024 statistics.
Town libraries only; regional systems left out.
About 460 visits in a typical week
The year 2024 at West Grey Public Library, in the library’s own counts.
3 public libraries in Durham
Sorted by straight-line distance from the centre of Durham.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Library locations. The locations come from OpenStreetMap and from Statistics Canada’s cultural facilities list of 2020, public libraries only.
Questions about the library and civic life in Durham
Does Durham have a public library?
Yes, 3: West Grey Public Library - Durham, West Grey Public Library - Neustadt and West Grey Public Library - Normanby/Ayton.
How busy is West Grey Public Library?
For 2024 it reported 40,693 loans and 23,920 in-person visits.
Library statistics: Ontario Public Library Statistics, 2024. Library locations: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Statistics Canada, Open Database of Cultural and Art Facilities (2020). Charities: Canada Revenue Agency, List of charities (2024), charitable organizations only.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).