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Whitehall Community Library

Whitehall’s library logs 5.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size

Whitehall Community Library serves Whitehall’s 3,275 residents. Last year it lent 16K print books and media and logged 19K visits.

36351 Main St., Whitehall 54773 · about 40 hours a week
ACivic lifeAhead of 93% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
16K
4.9 per resident
Visits a year
19K
5.9 per resident · Above typical (3)
Programs & events
62
about 1 a week · 548 attended
Cardholders
39%
1,285 cards
Open
40 hrs
a week

What stands out about Whitehall’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Whitehall’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Whitehall is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. Whitehall 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.

A
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Whitehall’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 93%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $46K–$77K (8,068)Ahead of 92%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Whitehall is small (1,621 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

9 community nonprofits are registered in Whitehall

5.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.96 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans21.61 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services21.29 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.64 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.64 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

11.9%

11.9% of Whitehall’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 Whitehall’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

19K
visits
5.9 per resident
16K
loans, print + digital
4.9 per resident
62
programs & events
548 attended
1,285
library cards
39% of people served
Every open hour8items borrowed
Every week11people at a program
Every day8Wi-Fi sessions
2 staff (full-time equivalent)8 public computers13K books & media on the shelves
How it compares

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.

Visits per resident 5.9 visits · typical 3Higher than 81%
Borrowing per resident 4.9 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 62%
Kids’ borrowing 0.6 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 78%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 82%
Programs offered 18.9 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 72%
Cardholders 39% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 54%
Spending $63 per resident · typical $43Higher than 72%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Whitehall Community Library serves 3,275 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

16K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

16Kloans
Books & media (adults) 87%Kids’ books & media 13%
How hard the shelves work
1.2×

Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.

From your couch

Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

62 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Whitehall →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–540
Ages 6–114
Teens3
Adults5
All ages10
Little ones
0.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
6

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Whitehall last year.

548
people at programs
62
programs
The building

Find it

Whitehall Community Library, 36351 Main St., Whitehall.

40
hours open a week
5,595
square feet
13K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Whitehall? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.34 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitehall cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$63 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $205K.

Local taxes 97%Gifts & other 3%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $274K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $205K budget.

Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.

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 1,285 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
WhitehallWhitehall Community Library fine-free4.940A
IndependenceIndependence Public Library fine-free3.439B+
LincolnNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents

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).

How to read these numbers

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 Whitehall

Does Whitehall have a public library?

Yes. Whitehall Community Library, 36351 Main St., serves Whitehall’s 3,275 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Whitehall Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?

Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Whitehall’s library?

It logged 5.9 visits and lent 4.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Whitehall’s civic life grade?

A Whitehall is ahead of 93% 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 Whitehall.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.