Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Whiting’s library runs 335 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Whiting Public Library serves Whiting’s 1,345 residents. Last year it lent 9,141 print books and media and logged 9,768 visits.
What Whiting’s library is like
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Whiting Public Library ran 451 programs last year, about 9 a week. That’s 335 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 6,037 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
1,450 cards for 1,345 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Whiting Public Library serves 1,345 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 34 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Whiting’s civic life grade
Whiting 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 →
About 6 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 Whiting last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Whiting Public Library serves 1,345 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
9,141 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Find it
Whiting Public Library, 407 Whittier St., Whiting.
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 $2.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whiting cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $70K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $209K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $70K 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 1,450 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.
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 Whiting
Does Whiting have a public library?
Yes. Whiting Public Library, 407 Whittier St., serves Whiting’s 1,345 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whiting Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Whiting’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 6.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Whiting’s civic life grade?
Whiting 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 Whiting.
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.