Photo: Transport6087 · CC BY-SA 4.0Wauconda’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Wauconda Area Public Library District serves 28,941 people in and around Wauconda. Last year it lent 342K print books and media and logged 128K visits.
Wauconda’s library, in brief
A system of heavy borrowers
Wauconda Area Public Library District lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
The Wauconda branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 563 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Wauconda Area Public Library District spends $103 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. 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; Wauconda Area Public Library District serves 28,941 people in and around Wauconda, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wauconda’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wauconda is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #304 of 754 in Illinois. Wauconda is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
54 community nonprofits are registered in Wauconda
3.8 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Wauconda’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Wauconda’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
342K 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 Wauconda’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wauconda Area Public Library District serves 28,941 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 101 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wauconda Area Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 7 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
Wauconda Area Public Library District, 801 North Main Street, Wauconda.
No late fees. Good at every Wauconda Area Public Library District branch.
New in Wauconda? 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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wauconda cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 9,645 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fremont Township | Fremont Public Library District fine-free | 12.4 | 67 | C+ |
| Wauconda | Wauconda Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| Wauconda Township | Wauconda Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 65 | C+ |
| Lake Barrington | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Wauconda Area Public Library District serves 28,941 people in and around Wauconda, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wauconda.
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 Wauconda
Does Wauconda have a public library?
Yes. Wauconda Area Public Library District, 801 North Main Street, serves 28,941 people in and around Wauconda (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wauconda Area Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wauconda’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 11.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wauconda’s civic life grade?
B− Wauconda is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #304 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Wauconda.
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.