Photo: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA · CC BY 2.0Westville’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Westville-New Durham Township Public Library serves 8,105 people in and around Westville. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,887 visits.
The short version on Westville’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Westville-New Durham Township Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Westville-New Durham Township Public Library offered 67 programs last year, 8.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Westville-New Durham Township Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, below 93% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 58% of similar-size libraries. 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; Westville-New Durham Township Public Library serves 8,105 people in and around Westville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Westville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Westville is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #71 of 571 in Indiana. Westville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Westville
4.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.9%
12.9% of Westville’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 Westville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Westville-New Durham Township Public Library serves 8,105 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Westville-New Durham Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,872 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
67 programs a year
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
Westville-New Durham Township Public Library, 153 Main Street, Westville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Westville-New Durham Township Public Library branch.
New in Westville? 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 $2.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $127K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $311K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $127K 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 879 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Westville-New Durham Township Public Library serves 8,105 people in and around Westville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Westville.
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 Westville
Does Westville have a public library?
Yes. Westville-New Durham Township Public Library, 153 Main Street, serves 8,105 people in and around Westville (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westville-New Durham Township 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 Westville’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Westville’s civic life grade?
A Westville is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #71 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 Westville.
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.