Photo: Larry Pieniazek, Lar (commons) or User:Lar (primary) · CC BY-SA 4.0Wellington’s library lends 6.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Herrick Memorial Public Library serves 9,650 people in and around Wellington. Last year it lent 74K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Wellington’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
47% of the budget comes from the state, and 41% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 76%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 369 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 30 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Herrick Memorial Public Library serves 9,650 people in and around Wellington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wellington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wellington is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #33 of 914 in Ohio. Wellington 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Wellington
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
12.9%
12.9% of Wellington’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Wellington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Herrick Memorial Public Library serves 9,650 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Herrick Memorial Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
74K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,403 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.
Find it
Herrick Memorial Public Library, 101 Willard Memorial Square, Wellington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Herrick Memorial Public Library branch.
New in Wellington? 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 $2.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wellington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $601K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $601K 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 4,259 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington | Herrick Memorial Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | A+ |
| Wellington Township | Herrick Memorial Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | A |
| Huntington Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Herrick Memorial Public Library serves 9,650 people in and around Wellington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wellington.
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 Wellington
Does Wellington have a public library?
Yes. Herrick Memorial Public Library, 101 Willard Memorial Square, serves 9,650 people in and around Wellington (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Herrick Memorial 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 Wellington’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wellington’s civic life grade?
A+ Wellington is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #33 of 914 in Ohio. 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 Wellington.
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.