Price-Prather House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWilliamsville’s library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Williamsville Public Library and Museum serves Williamsville’s 1,425 residents. Last year it lent 13K print books and media and logged 7,476 visits.
The short version on Williamsville’s library
Illinois pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 72% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Williamsville invests in its library
Williamsville Public Library and Museum spends $129 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Williamsville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Williamsville is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Williamsville
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 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.
6.7%
6.7% of Williamsville’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 Williamsville’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
13K 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 Williamsville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Williamsville Public Library and Museum serves 1,425 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
36 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Williamsville Public Library, 217 North Elm Street, Williamsville.
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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Williamsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $184K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $237K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $184K 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 480 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Williamsville
Does Williamsville have a public library?
Yes. Williamsville Public Library and Museum, 217 North Elm Street, serves Williamsville’s 1,425 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Williamsville Public Library and Museum fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Williamsville’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 9.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Williamsville’s civic life grade?
B Williamsville is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Williamsville.
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.