Photo: Aeotas · CC BY-SA 4.0Waldo’s library is a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which lends more per resident than 68% of systems its size
Waldo’s library is the Waldo Branch Library, a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which serves 416,905 people and lent 2M items last year.
What stands out about Waldo Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Waldo’s civic life grade
Waldo 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pal Public Library Cooperative serves 416,905 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Pal Public Library Cooperative
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pal Public Library Cooperative system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Waldo’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 50 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Waldo Branch Library, 15150 Northeast Us Highway 301, Waldo.
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 $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waldo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $22M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22M 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 240,614 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Waldo Branch Library is one branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 416,905 people it serves.
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 Waldo
Does Waldo have a public library?
Yes: Waldo Branch Library, 15150 Northeast Us Highway 301, is a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which serves 416,905 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pal Public Library Cooperative fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Waldo’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Waldo’s civic life grade?
Waldo 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 Waldo.
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.