Photo: Soueric · CC BY-SA 4.0Wilmette’s library lends 24 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Wilmette Public Library District serves Wilmette’s 28,180 residents. Last year it lent 664K print books and media and logged 243K visits.
Wilmette’s library, in brief
Wilmette borrows more library books per person than any town in Illinois
Out of 259 Illinois towns with a library of their own, Wilmette comes first for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #19 for library use. How it compares ↓
Wilmette uses its library more than almost any town its size
Wilmette Public Library District logs 8.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 24 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Wilmette invests in its library
Wilmette Public Library District spends $239 per resident a year, about six times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Wilmette Public Library District ran 1,112 programs last year, about 21 a week. That’s 39 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 33,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 71 hours a week
Wilmette Public Library District is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 180 items go out. The building ↓
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 Wilmette’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wilmette is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #51 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 →
117 community nonprofits are registered in Wilmette
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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.8%
11.8% of Wilmette’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 Wilmette’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wilmette Public Library District serves 28,180 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 180 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
664K 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 Wilmette’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 223K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3 times last year, on average.
Find it
Wilmette Public Library District, 1242 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette.
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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilmette cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.7M 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 16,200 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wilmette borrows the most per resident of the 7 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmette | Wilmette Public Library District fine-free | 23.6 | 71 | A |
| New Trier Township | Wilmette Public Library District fine-free | 23.6 | 71 | A |
| Skokie | Skokie Public Library fine-free | 21.3 | 75 | B+ |
| Niles Township | Skokie Public Library fine-free | 21.3 | 75 | C+ |
| Northfield | Northfield Branch Library fine-free | 19.2 | 67 | C |
| Glenview | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B+ |
| Evanston | Evanston Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 62 | A |
| Kenilworth | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Wilmette
Does Wilmette have a public library?
Yes. Wilmette Public Library District, 1242 Wilmette Avenue, serves Wilmette’s 28,180 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wilmette Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wilmette’s library?
It logged 8.6 visits and lent 23.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wilmette’s civic life grade?
A Wilmette is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #51 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 Wilmette.
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.