Elderwood · Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0Glendale’s library lends 7.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
North Shore Library serves 26,332 people in and around Glendale. Last year it lent 274K books, movies and e-books and logged 87K visits.
What stands out about North Shore Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Glendale’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Glendale is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #271 of 358 in Wisconsin. Glendale is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Glendale’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$98K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Glendale
2.7 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Glendale’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Wisconsin 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 Glendale’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
274K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
85,740 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
North Shore Library serves 26,332 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 97 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole North Shore Library system. The library’s own count.
About 4 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
North Shore Library, 6800 N. Port Washington Rd., Glendale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every North Shore Library branch.
New in Glendale? 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 $3.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glendale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 8,585 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitefish Bay | Whitefish Bay Public Library | 24.8 | 62 | A+ |
| Milwaukee | Milwaukee Public Library | 2.8 | 56 | C+ |
| Glendale | North Shore Library | — | 54 | C |
| River Hills | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Fox Point | 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. North Shore Library serves 26,332 people in and around Glendale, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Glendale.
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 Glendale
Does Glendale have a public library?
Yes. North Shore Library, 6800 N. Port Washington Rd., serves 26,332 people in and around Glendale (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Shore Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Glendale’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Glendale’s civic life grade?
C Glendale is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #271 of 358 in Wisconsin. 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 Glendale.
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.