Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 3.0Westchester Township’s library logs 7.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Westchester Public Library serves 20,635 people in and around Westchester Township from 2 locations. Last year it lent 235K books, movies and e-books and logged 163K visits.
The short version on Westchester Township’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
Westchester Public Library logs 7.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 8.5 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Westchester Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
The Westchester Township branch is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
A well-funded system
Westchester Public Library spends $154 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (85%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. 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; Westchester Public Library serves 20,635 people in and around Westchester Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Westchester Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westchester Township is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #60 of 571 in Indiana. 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 →
101 community nonprofits are registered in Westchester Township
4.8 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.9%
10.9% of Westchester Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Westchester Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 38 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Westchester Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Westchester Public Library serves 20,635 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
235K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
59,621 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
2 places to borrow in Westchester Township
Westchester Public Library, 200 West Indiana Avenue, Chesterton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Westchester Public Library branch.
New in Westchester Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Westchester Public Library branches in Westchester Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westchester Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.2M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 11,348 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westchester Township | Westchester Public Library | — | 69 | A |
| Portage Township | Portage Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | C |
| Portage | Portage Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | C |
| Chesterton | Westchester Public Library | — | 69 | A+ |
| Burns Harbor | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Pine Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Liberty Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Beverly Shores | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Jackson Township | 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.
- System-wide. Westchester Public Library serves 20,635 people in and around Westchester Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Westchester Township.
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 Westchester Township
Does Westchester Township have a public library?
Yes. Westchester Public Library, 200 West Indiana Avenue, serves 20,635 people in and around Westchester Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westchester Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Westchester Township’s library?
It logged 7.9 visits and lent 11.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Westchester Township’s civic life grade?
A Westchester Township is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #60 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Westchester 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.