Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWestminster’s library logs 3.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Westminster Public Library serves Westminster’s 115,739 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 609K books, movies and e-books and logged 382K visits.
What stands out about Westminster’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Westminster’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westminster is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #79 of 104 in Colorado. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #198. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($75K–$125K) 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 →
265 community nonprofits are registered in Westminster
2.3 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 (65 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 18 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Westminster’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado 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 Westminster’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Westminster Public Library serves 115,739 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
42% of borrowing is digital
609K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 158K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
254,886 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Westminster last year.
2 places to borrow in Westminster
College Hill Library, 3705 W 112th Ave, Westminster.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Westminster? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Westminster
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westminster cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.2M 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 43,601 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | College Hill Library fine-free | 5.3 | 57 | C− |
| Broomfield | Broomfield/Eisenhower Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | C+ |
| Arvada | Arvada Library fine-free | — | 65 | C |
| Sherrelwood | Perl Mack Branch Library fine-free | — | 46 | — unincorporated |
| Thornton | Wright Farms fine-free | — | 56 | D− |
| Berkley | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Twin Lakes | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Shaw Heights | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Northglenn | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Federal Heights | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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 Westminster
Does Westminster have a public library?
Yes. Westminster Public Library, 3705 W 112th Ave, serves Westminster’s 115,739 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westminster 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 Westminster’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Westminster’s civic life grade?
C− Westminster is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #79 of 104 in Colorado. 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 Westminster.
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.