Wayland’s library runs 74 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Wayland Free Library serves 6,464 people in and around Wayland. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
What stands out about Wayland’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Wayland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wayland is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #504 of 751 in New York. Wayland is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Wayland’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$82K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Wayland
3.7 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Wayland’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Wayland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wayland Free Library serves 6,464 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
4,811 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Wayland Free Library, 101 West Naples Street, Wayland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wayland? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wayland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $198K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $450K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $198K 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 2,661 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayland | Wayland Free Library fine-free | 4.0 | 39 | C |
| Cohocton | Cohocton Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | B+ |
| North Dansville | Dansville Public Library fine-free | — | 51 | C |
| Dansville | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Springwater | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Fremont | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Wayland
Does Wayland have a public library?
Yes. Wayland Free Library, 101 West Naples Street, serves 6,464 people in and around Wayland (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wayland Free 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 Wayland’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wayland’s civic life grade?
C Wayland is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #504 of 751 in New York. 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 Wayland.
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.