Photo: Gnome70 · CC BY-SA 4.0Whitefish Bay’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Whitefish Bay Public Library serves Whitefish Bay’s 14,739 residents. Last year it lent 365K books, movies and e-books and logged 161K visits.
Whitefish Bay’s library, in brief
Whitefish Bay borrows more library books per person than any town in Wisconsin
Out of 30 Wisconsin towns with a library of their own, Whitefish Bay comes first for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #2 for library use. How it compares ↓
Whitefish Bay uses its library more than almost any town its size
Whitefish Bay Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 29 items per child in Whitefish Bay last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 247 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.7 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.
What’s behind Whitefish Bay’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Whitefish Bay is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #17 of 358 in Wisconsin. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Whitefish Bay
5.4 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 (11 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.
11.9%
11.9% of Whitefish Bay’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 Whitefish Bay’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Whitefish Bay last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Whitefish Bay Public Library serves 14,739 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 114 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
365K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 76K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.5 times last year, on average.
100,992 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Whitefish Bay Public Library, 5420 N. Marlborough Dr., Whitefish Bay.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Whitefish Bay? 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 $5.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitefish Bay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 6,767 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Whitefish Bay borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Whitefish Bay
Does Whitefish Bay have a public library?
Yes. Whitefish Bay Public Library, 5420 N. Marlborough Dr., serves Whitefish Bay’s 14,739 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whitefish Bay 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 Whitefish Bay’s library?
It logged 10.9 visits and lent 24.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Whitefish Bay’s civic life grade?
A+ Whitefish Bay is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 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 Whitefish Bay.
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.