Picotte, Dr. Susan, Memorial Hospital · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainWalthill’s library logs 9.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Walthill Public Library serves Walthill’s 682 residents. Last year it lent 564 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,552 visits.
What Walthill’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 89% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 1%. A year at the library ↓
Most of Walthill’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 79% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Walthill Public Library serves 682 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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 Walthill’s civic life grade
Walthill isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
79% of borrowing is digital
564 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,096 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
446 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Walthill Public Library serves 682 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Walthill Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
46 programs a year
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Walthill last year.
Find it
Walthill Public Library, 323 Main Street, Walthill.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Walthill? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Walthill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $27K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27K 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 181 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Walthill Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Walthill
Does Walthill have a public library?
Yes. Walthill Public Library, 323 Main Street, serves Walthill’s 682 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Walthill 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 Walthill’s library?
It logged 9.6 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Walthill’s civic life grade?
Walthill isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Walthill.
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.