Union High Academy Historic District · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWestfield’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Westfield-Washington Public Library serves 49,262 people in and around Westfield. Last year it lent 537K books, movies and e-books and logged 211K visits.
Westfield’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
43% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 55%. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 39% 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; Westfield-Washington Public Library serves 49,262 people in and around Westfield, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Westfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westfield is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #235 of 571 in Indiana. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Westfield’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
148 community nonprofits are registered in Westfield
2.7 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 (32 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.6%
10.6% of Westfield’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 Westfield’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
537K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
208,245 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Westfield-Washington Public Library serves 49,262 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 189 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Westfield-Washington Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 9 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.
Find it
Westfield-Washington Public Library, 17400 Westfield Blvd, Westfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Westfield-Washington Public Library branch.
New in Westfield? The Handbook →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 $3.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 20,376 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westfield | Westfield-Washington Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | B |
| Noblesville | Hamilton East Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | B+ |
| Carmel | Carmel Clay Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | A |
| Westfield Washington Township | Westfield-Washington Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | B |
| Hortonville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Westfield-Washington Public Library serves 49,262 people in and around Westfield, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Westfield.
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 Westfield
Does Westfield have a public library?
Yes. Westfield-Washington Public Library, 17400 Westfield Blvd, serves 49,262 people in and around Westfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westfield-Washington Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Westfield’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 10.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Westfield’s civic life grade?
B Westfield is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #235 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 Westfield.
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.