Photo: LeeG7144 · CC BY-SA 3.0Willoughby’s library is a branch of Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, which lends more per resident than 92% of systems its size
Willoughby’s library is the Willoughby Branch Library, a branch of Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, which serves 66,639 people and lent 1M items last year.
What Willoughby’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
The Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library system lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Ohio pays a big share
30% of the budget comes from the state, and 62% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Willoughby branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
The Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library system spends $102 per resident a year, about twice 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; Willoughby’s library is a branch of Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, so they cover the whole system (66,639 people), not just the Willoughby branch.
What’s behind Willoughby’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Willoughby is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #560 of 914 in Ohio. Willoughby is graded on two of the three inputs. Willoughby’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
125 community nonprofits are registered in Willoughby
5.2 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Willoughby’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 Willoughby’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
245,334 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library serves 66,639 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 18 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
Willoughby Branch Library, 30 Public Square, Willoughby.
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 Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library branch.
New in Willoughby? 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 $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Willoughby cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.8M 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 31,616 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willoughby | Willoughby Branch Library fine-free | — | 68 | B− |
| Eastlake | Eastlake Branch Library fine-free | — | 68 | C− |
| Mentor | Mentor Public Library fine-free | — | 70 | B |
| Willoughby Hills | Willoughby Hills Branch fine-free | — | 52 | D |
| Wickliffe | Wickliffe Public Library | — | 64 | B |
| Kirtland | Kirtland Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| Willowick | Willowick Branch Library fine-free | — | 68 | D |
| Waite Hill | 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.
- System-wide. Willoughby Branch Library is one branch of Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 66,639 people it serves.
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 Willoughby
Does Willoughby have a public library?
Yes: Willoughby Branch Library, 30 Public Square, is a branch of Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, which serves 66,639 people. The branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Willoughby-Eastlake 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 Willoughby’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 15.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Willoughby’s civic life grade?
B− Willoughby is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #560 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 Willoughby.
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.