Photo: Sea Cow · CC BY-SA 4.0Wheaton’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Wheaton Public Library serves Wheaton’s 53,970 residents. Last year it lent 927K print books and media and logged 384K visits.
What Wheaton’s library is like
Wheaton uses its library more than almost any town its size
Wheaton Public Library logs 7.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 17 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Illinois for borrowing
Wheaton ranks #11 of 259 Illinois towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 17 items per resident, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
Wheaton Public Library is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 262 items go out. The building ↓
Wheaton invests in its library
Wheaton Public Library spends $85 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.
What’s behind Wheaton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wheaton is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #121 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
229 community nonprofits are registered in Wheaton
4.3 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 (89 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 32 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.4%
8.4% of Wheaton’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 Wheaton’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
927K 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 Wheaton’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 240K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.9 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wheaton Public Library serves 53,970 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 262 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 10 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
Wheaton Public Library, 225 North Cross Street, Wheaton.
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 $3.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wheaton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.6M 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 29,712 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wheaton ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Ellyn | Glen Ellyn Public Library fine-free | 19.3 | 69 | A |
| Milton Township | Glen Ellyn Public Library fine-free | 19.3 | 69 | B− |
| Wheaton | Wheaton Public Library fine-free | 17.2 | 68 | A− |
| Winfield Township | Warrenville Public Library District fine-free | 12.0 | 65 | C− |
| Lisle | Lisle Library District fine-free | 11.6 | 67 | B |
| Carol Stream | Carol Stream Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 69 | C− |
| Winfield | Winfield Public Library fine-free | 5.8 | 62 | 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 Wheaton
Does Wheaton have a public library?
Yes. Wheaton Public Library, 225 North Cross Street, serves Wheaton’s 53,970 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wheaton Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wheaton’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 17.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wheaton’s civic life grade?
A− Wheaton is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #121 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 Wheaton.
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.