Photo: bogdanstepniak · CC BY 3.0Wheeling Township’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Arlington Heights Memorial Library serves 77,676 people in and around Wheeling Township from 2 locations. Last year it lent 1.3M books, movies and e-books and logged 666K visits.
What Wheeling Township’s library is like
Wheeling Township uses its library more than almost any town its size
Wheeling Township’s library system logs 8.6 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 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 77 hours a week
The main library is open about 77 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 148 items go out. The buildings ↓
Wheeling Township invests in its library
Wheeling Township’s library system spends $189 per resident a year, about five times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 245,000 items on the shelves went out about 5.5 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
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 Wheeling Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wheeling Township is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #656 of 754 in Illinois. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #265. Wheeling Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($80K–$133K) 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 →
325 community nonprofits are registered in Wheeling Township
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (115 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 31 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Wheeling Township’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 Wheeling Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 16 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Arlington Heights Memorial Library serves 77,676 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 148 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 245K books and other items on the shelves went out about 5.5 times last year, on average.
5 places to borrow in Wheeling Township
Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 North Dunton Avenue, Arlington Heights.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Wheeling Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wheeling Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $15M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $21M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 62,765 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wheeling Township ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northfield Township | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B |
| Glenview | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B+ |
| Wheeling Township | Arlington Heights Memorial Library fine-free | 17.4 | 77 | D |
| Arlington Heights | Arlington Heights Memorial Library fine-free | 17.4 | 77 | B |
| Des Plaines | Des Plaines Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 72 | C+ |
| Palatine Township | Rolling Meadows Library fine-free | 5.9 | 71 | C+ |
| Rolling Meadows | Rolling Meadows Library fine-free | 5.9 | 71 | C− |
| Vernon Township | Vernon Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
| Wheeling | Indian Trails Public Library District fine-free | — | 71 | D− |
| Palatine | Palatine Public Library District fine-free | — | 68 | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Wheeling Township
Does Wheeling Township have a public library?
Yes. Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 North Dunton Avenue, serves 77,676 people in and around Wheeling Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 77 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arlington Heights Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wheeling Township’s library?
It logged 8.6 visits and lent 17.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wheeling Township’s civic life grade?
D Wheeling Township is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #656 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 Wheeling Township.
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.