Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Wilmington’s library logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Wilmington Institute Library serves Wilmington’s 54,227 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 98K books, movies and e-books and logged 191K visits.
The short version on Wilmington’s library
Programs draw a crowd
58,000 people came to the library’s 365 programs last year: 1.1 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Wilmington’s library system holds 164,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Wilmington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wilmington is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #3 of 22 in Delaware. Wilmington is graded on two of the three inputs. Wilmington’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
761 community nonprofits are registered in Wilmington
10.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (169 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 87 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of Wilmington’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Delaware 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 Wilmington’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Wilmington last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wilmington Institute Library serves 54,227 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
98K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 164K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
23,726 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Wilmington
Wilmington Institute Library, 10 East 10th Street, Wilmington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wilmington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Wilmington
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilmington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 13,648 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | Wilmington Institute Library | 1.8 | 54 | B |
| Pennsville Township | Pennsville Public Library | — | — | C |
| Elsmere | Elsmere Public Library | — | 27 | D− |
| Carneys Point Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Penns Grove | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Edgemoor | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Wilmington
Does Wilmington have a public library?
Yes. Wilmington Institute Library, 10 East 10th Street, serves Wilmington’s 54,227 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wilmington Institute Library 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 Wilmington’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wilmington’s civic life grade?
B Wilmington is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 of 22 in Delaware. 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 Wilmington.
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.