Photo: DKRKaynor · CC BY-SA 4.0Waitsburg’s library runs 117 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Waitsburg (Weller) Public Library serves Waitsburg’s 1,185 residents. Last year it lent 4,515 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,247 visits.
The short version on Waitsburg’s library
More library cards than residents
1,249 cards for 1,185 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Waitsburg (Weller) Public Library serves 1,185 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Most of Waitsburg’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans, more per resident than at 75% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 45%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Waitsburg (Weller) Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 139 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.1 a week 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Waitsburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Waitsburg is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns. Waitsburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Waitsburg
19.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Waitsburg’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.7% in the typical Washington 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 Waitsburg’s residents live; 2022.
55% of borrowing is digital
4,515 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,143 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
2,491 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Waitsburg (Weller) Public Library serves 1,185 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Waitsburg last year.
Find it
Weller Public Library, 212 Main Street, Waitsburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Waitsburg? 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 $1.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waitsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $81K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K 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 1,249 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Waitsburg
Does Waitsburg have a public library?
Yes. Waitsburg (Weller) Public Library, 212 Main Street, serves Waitsburg’s 1,185 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waitsburg (Weller) Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Waitsburg’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Waitsburg’s civic life grade?
B+ Waitsburg is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Waitsburg.
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.