Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0Waukesha’s library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Waukesha Public Library serves Waukesha’s 88,995 residents. Last year it lent 1M books, movies and e-books and logged 307K visits.
Waukesha’s library, in brief
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 30 items per child in Waukesha last year. Kids & programs ↓
Waukesha is a town of borrowers
Waukesha Public Library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 3 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
Waukesha Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 296 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 Waukesha’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Waukesha is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #179 of 358 in Wisconsin. All three 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 →
289 community nonprofits are registered in Waukesha
4.1 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 (55 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Waukesha’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 Waukesha’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Waukesha last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Waukesha Public Library serves 88,995 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 296 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 272K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3 times last year, on average.
184,262 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Waukesha Public Library, 321 Wisconsin Ave., Waukesha.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Waukesha? 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 $3.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waukesha cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.6M 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 35,511 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waukesha | Waukesha Public Library | 11.4 | 66 | B |
| Pewaukee | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| 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 Waukesha
Does Waukesha have a public library?
Yes. Waukesha Public Library, 321 Wisconsin Ave., serves Waukesha’s 88,995 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waukesha 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 Waukesha’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 11.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Waukesha’s civic life grade?
B Waukesha is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #179 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 Waukesha.
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.