Photo: Pythaglio · CC BY-SA 2.0Westerville’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Westerville Public Library serves 100,042 people in and around Westerville. Last year it lent 1.5M books, movies and e-books and logged 390K visits.
What Westerville’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Westerville Public Library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
39% of the budget comes from the state, and 48% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
84,000 people came to the system’s 1,618 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
89,353 cards for 100,042 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
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; Westerville Public Library serves 100,042 people in and around Westerville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Westerville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Westerville is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #231 of 914 in Ohio. Westerville 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 →
176 community nonprofits are registered in Westerville
4.6 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 (42 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Westerville’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 Westerville’s residents live; 2022.
About 16 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Westerville Public Library serves 100,042 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 415 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Westerville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.5M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
428,122 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Westerville Public Library, 126 S. State St., Westerville.
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 Westerville Public Library branch.
New in Westerville? 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 Westerville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $23M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.5M 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 89,353 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westerville | Westerville Public Library fine-free | — | 70 | A− |
| Columbus | Columbus Metropolitan Library fine-free | — | 70 | B |
| Orange Township | Orange Branch fine-free | — | 50 | B− |
| Sharon Township | Old Worthington Library fine-free | — | 70 | A+ |
| Blendon Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Genoa Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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. Westerville Public Library serves 100,042 people in and around Westerville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Westerville.
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 Westerville
Does Westerville have a public library?
Yes. Westerville Public Library, 126 S. State St., serves 100,042 people in and around Westerville (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westerville 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 Westerville’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 15.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Westerville’s civic life grade?
A− Westerville is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #231 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 Westerville.
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.