Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0New Berlin’s library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
New Berlin Public Library serves New Berlin’s 40,897 residents. Last year it lent 445K books, movies and e-books and logged 195K visits.
The short version on New Berlin’s library
New Berlin uses its library more than almost any town its size
New Berlin Public Library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 9 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in New Berlin last year. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
New Berlin Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 129 items go out. The building ↓
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.
What’s behind New Berlin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Berlin is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #160 of 358 in Wisconsin. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; New Berlin’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
135 community nonprofits are registered in New Berlin
3.4 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 (20 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.
9.6%
9.6% of New Berlin’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 New Berlin’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 New Berlin last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
New Berlin Public Library serves 40,897 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 129 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
445K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 146K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
78,264 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
New Berlin Public Library, 15105 Library Ln., New Berlin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in New Berlin? 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 $3.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Berlin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 15,577 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
New Berlin ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield | Brookfield Public Library | 14.4 | 66 | A− |
| Hales Corners | Hales Corners Public Library | 13.8 | 60 | A |
| Muskego | Muskego Public Library | 11.3 | 62 | B+ |
| New Berlin | New Berlin Public Library | 10.9 | 66 | B+ |
| Greenfield | Greenfield Public Library | 7.0 | 65 | C |
| West Allis | West Allis Public Library | 6.8 | 63 | B+ |
| Waukesha | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Vernon | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Brookfield | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- 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 New Berlin
Does New Berlin have a public library?
Yes. New Berlin Public Library, 15105 Library Ln., serves New Berlin’s 40,897 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Berlin 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 New Berlin’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 10.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is New Berlin’s civic life grade?
B+ New Berlin is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #160 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 New Berlin.
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.