Waiakea Mission Station-Hilo Station · Photo: W Nowicki · CC BY 3.0Hilo’s library is a branch of Hawaii State Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 65% of systems its size
Hilo’s library is the Hilo Public Library, a branch of Hawaii State Public Library System, which serves 1,446,146 people and lent 5.2M items last year.
What Hilo’s library is like
Hawaii pays a big share
93% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Hawaii State Public Library System offered 3,839 programs last year, 2.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. 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; Hilo’s library is a branch of Hawaii State Public Library System, so they cover the whole system (1,446,146 people), not just the Hilo branch.
What’s behind Hilo’s civic life grade
Hilo isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Hawaii State Public Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Hilo
Hilo is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
9.1%
9.1% of Hilo’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.4% in the typical Hawaii 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 Hilo’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Hawaii State Public Library System serves 1,446,146 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hawaii State Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,716,408 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 43 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
Hilo Public Library, 300 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hawaii State Public Library System branch.
New in Hilo? 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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hilo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $42M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42M 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 1,016,000 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilo | Hilo Public Library | — | 33 | — unincorporated |
| Wainaku | 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.
- System-wide. Hilo Public Library is one branch of Hawaii State Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,446,146 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 Hilo
Does Hilo have a public library?
Yes: Hilo Public Library, 300 Waianuenue Ave., is a branch of Hawaii State Public Library System, which serves 1,446,146 people. The branch is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hawaii State Public Library System 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 Hilo’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hilo’s civic life grade?
Hilo isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Hawaii State Public Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Hilo.
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.