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Library · Wallingford Center

Wallingford Public Library

Wallingford Public Library serves 43,725 people in and around Wallingford Center. Last year it lent 431K books, movies and e-books and logged 204K visits.

200 North Main St., Wallingford 06492 · about 65 hours a week
Photo: US Government
Borrowed a year
431K
9.9 per resident
Visits a year
204K
4.7 per resident · Above typical (2.6)
Programs & events
1,073
about 21 a week · 23K attended
Cardholders
36%
15,784 cards
Open
65 hrs
a week

What stands out about Wallingford Public Library

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

★ What stands out · A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 127 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

204K
visits
4.7 per resident
431K
loans, print + digital
9.9 per resident
1,073
programs & events
23K attended
16K
library cards
36% of people served
Every open hour127items borrowed
Every week441people at a program
Every day246Wi-Fi sessions
33 staff (full-time equivalent)55 public computers181K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

431K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

431Kloans
Books & media (adults) 52%Kids’ books & media 32%E-books, audio & streaming 16%
How hard the shelves work
2×

Each of the 181K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.

From your couch

68,611 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.02 worth

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

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
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
$0
a year at retail prices · $0 a month

Who pays for it
$79 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.5M.

Local taxes 93%State 0%Federal 0%Gifts & other 7%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 15,784 cardholders ÷ 12.

The building

Find it

Wallingford Public Library, 200 North Main St., Wallingford.

65
hours open a week
67,000
square feet
181K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Wallingford Center? The Handbook →

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

How it compares

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. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.

Visits per resident 4.7 visits · typical 2.6Higher than 84%
Borrowing per resident 8.3 print items · typical 3.7Higher than 84%
Digital borrowing 1.6 e-items · typical 1.2Higher than 62%
Kids’ borrowing 3.1 kids’ items · typical 1.7Higher than 75%
Program attendance 0.5 attendees · typical 0.3Higher than 75%
Programs offered 24.5 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Higher than 79%
Cardholders 36% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 58%
Spending $79 per resident · typical $40Higher than 84%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
In Connecticut
#53 of 173

library systems for visits per resident.

Size group

Wallingford Public Library serves 43,725 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

Kids & programs

About 7 kids’ programs a week

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

Schools in Wallingford Center →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5225
Ages 6–11128
Teens119
Adults558
All ages43
Little ones
4.3

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

137K
kids’ books & media borrowed
23K
people at programs
1,073
programs
Next door

Libraries next door

Wallingford Center borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHours
Wallingford CenterWallingford Public Library fine-free9.965
WallingfordWallingford Public Library fine-free9.965
North HavenNorth Haven Memorial Library fine-free8.152

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.

About these numbers

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
  • Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
  • 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.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Wallingford Center.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is Wallingford Public Library one of the best things about Wallingford Center?

Your answer becomes a post in 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.

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