Photo: User:Noroton · Public domainWilton’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Wilton Library Association serves Wilton’s 18,400 residents. Last year it lent 233K books, movies and e-books and logged 215K visits.
Wilton’s library, in brief
Wilton uses its library more than almost any town its size
Wilton Library Association logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 9.2 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Connecticut for library use
Wilton ranks #5 of 123 Connecticut towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 12 visits per resident, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
30,000 people came to the library’s 910 programs last year: 1.6 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Wilton invests in its library
Wilton Library Association spends $203 per resident a year, about five times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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 Wilton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wilton is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #8 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
134 community nonprofits are registered in Wilton
7.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Wilton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut 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 Wilton’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Wilton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Wilton Library Association serves 18,400 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 82 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
233K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 127K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
63,861 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Wilton Library Association, 137 Old Ridgefield Rd., Wilton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wilton? 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 $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.7M 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 8,283 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wilton ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Canaan | New Canaan Library | 13.6 | 63 | A− |
| Westport | Westport Library | 13.3 | 66 | A |
| Wilton | Wilton Library Association | 12.7 | 55 | A |
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Library | 12.5 | 58 | A |
| Redding | Mark Twain Library fine-free | 10.5 | 51 | A |
| Weston | Weston Public Library | 8.4 | 52 | A+ |
| Norwalk | Rowayton Library | 6.4 | 46 | C− |
| Georgetown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| South Wilton | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Poplar Plains | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Branchville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Wilton
Does Wilton have a public library?
Yes. Wilton Library Association, 137 Old Ridgefield Rd., serves Wilton’s 18,400 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wilton Library Association fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wilton’s library?
It logged 11.7 visits and lent 12.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Wilton’s civic life grade?
A Wilton is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Wilton.
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.