Photo: User:Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 2.5Hillsboro’s library lends 7.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Hillsboro Public Library serves Hillsboro’s 3,611 residents. Last year it lent 28K print books and media and logged 9,746 visits.
What stands out about Hillsboro’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hillsboro’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hillsboro is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Hillsboro 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Hillsboro
4.7 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Hillsboro’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 Hillsboro’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Hillsboro last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hillsboro Public Library serves 3,611 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
28K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 41K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hillsboro Public Library, 819 High Ave., Hillsboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hillsboro? 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 $3.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hillsboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $140K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $442K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $140K 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 1,288 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Hillsboro
Does Hillsboro have a public library?
Yes. Hillsboro Public Library, 819 High Ave., serves Hillsboro’s 3,611 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hillsboro Public 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 Hillsboro’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 7.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hillsboro’s civic life grade?
A− Hillsboro is ahead of 77% 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 Hillsboro.
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.