Photo: Bobertrobert0709 · CC BY-SA 4.0Westmont’s library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Westmont Public Library serves Westmont’s 24,429 residents. Last year it lent 243K print books and media and logged 119K visits.
The short version on Westmont’s library
Westmont is a town of borrowers
Westmont Public Library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Westmont invests in its library
Westmont Public Library spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) 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.
What’s behind Westmont’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westmont is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #467 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; Westmont’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($66K–$110K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
60 community nonprofits are registered in Westmont
2.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Westmont’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 Westmont’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
243K 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 Westmont’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 87K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Westmont Public Library serves 24,429 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 75 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 5 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.
Find it
Westmont Public Library, 428 North Cass Avenue, Westmont.
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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westmont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 11,853 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Westmont ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York Township | Elmhurst Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 70 | B− |
| Downers Grove | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | A− |
| Downers Grove Township | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | C+ |
| Oak Brook | Oak Brook Public Library fine-free | 15.4 | 62 | A |
| Hinsdale | Hinsdale Public Library fine-free | 14.7 | 67 | A− |
| Westmont | Westmont Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Clarendon Hills | Clarendon Hills Public Library fine-free | 9.1 | 54 | B |
| Darien | Indian Prairie Public Library District fine-free | — | 66 | C+ |
| Willowbrook | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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.
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 Westmont
Does Westmont have a public library?
Yes. Westmont Public Library, 428 North Cass Avenue, serves Westmont’s 24,429 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westmont Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Westmont’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 9.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Westmont’s civic life grade?
C Westmont is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #467 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 Westmont.
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.