Photo: US Government · Public domainWallingford Center’s library logs 4.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Wallingford Public Library serves 43,725 people in and around Wallingford Center. Last year it lent 431K books, movies and e-books and logged 204K visits.
The short version on Wallingford Center’s library
Open about 65 hours a week
Wallingford Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 127 items go out. The building ↓
Wallingford Public Library serves more than Wallingford Center
The library’s service area covers 43,725 people in and around Wallingford Center, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 1,073 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 353 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 Wallingford Center’s civic life grade
Wallingford Center isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 127 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Wallingford Public Library serves 43,725 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
431K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 181K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
68,611 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
Find it
Wallingford Public Library, 200 North Main St., Wallingford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wallingford Center? 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 $2.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wallingford Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 15,784 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wallingford Center borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallingford Center | Wallingford Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 65 | — graded as part of its town |
| Wallingford | Wallingford Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 65 | B |
| North Haven | North Haven Memorial Library fine-free | 8.1 | 52 | B |
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 Wallingford Center
Does Wallingford Center have a public library?
Yes. Wallingford Public Library, 200 North Main St., serves 43,725 people in and around Wallingford Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wallingford 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 Wallingford Center’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wallingford Center’s civic life grade?
Wallingford Center isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Wallingford Center.
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.