Photo: Kulshrax · Public domainWestlake’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Porter Public Library serves 34,228 people in and around Westlake. Last year it lent 872K books, movies and e-books and logged 287K visits.
What Westlake’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Porter Public Library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 20 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Porter Public Library ran 1,708 programs last year, about 33 a week. That’s 50 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 37,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 22% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Porter Public Library spends $157 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; Porter Public Library serves 34,228 people in and around Westlake, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Westlake’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westlake is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #209 of 914 in Ohio. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
156 community nonprofits are registered in Westlake
4.6 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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Westlake’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 Westlake’s residents live; 2022.
About 15 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Porter Public Library serves 34,228 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 246 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Porter Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
872K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
188,136 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Porter Public Library, 27333 Center Ridge Rd., Westlake.
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 Porter Public Library branch.
New in Westlake? 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 $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westlake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.4M 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 28,668 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westlake | Porter Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | A− |
| North Olmsted | North Olmsted Branch Library fine-free | — | 67 | C |
| Avon | Avon fine-free | — | 62 | B |
| Rocky River | Rocky River Public Library fine-free | — | 66 | A− |
| Bay Village | Bay Village Branch Library fine-free | — | 66 | A |
| Fairview Park | Fairview Park Branch Library fine-free | — | 67 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Porter Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Porter Public Library serves 34,228 people in and around Westlake, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Westlake.
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 Westlake
Does Westlake have a public library?
Yes. Porter Public Library, 27333 Center Ridge Rd., serves 34,228 people in and around Westlake (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Porter 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 Westlake’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 25.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Westlake’s civic life grade?
A− Westlake is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #209 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 Westlake.
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.