Photo: IvoShandor · CC BY 2.5Amboy’s library runs 6.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Pankhurst Memorial Library serves Amboy’s 2,278 residents. Last year it lent 6,260 print books and media and logged 3,392 visits.
Amboy’s library, in brief
Illinois pays a big share
44% of the budget comes from the state, and 41% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Pankhurst Memorial Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Pankhurst Memorial Library serves 2,278 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Pankhurst Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Amboy’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Amboy is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. Amboy’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Amboy
7.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Amboy’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Amboy’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pankhurst Memorial Library serves 2,278 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
6,260 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Amboy’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
14 programs a year
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.
Find it
Pankhurst Memorial Library, 3 South Jefferson Avenue, Amboy.
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 $2.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Amboy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $50K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $116K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $50K 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 373 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amboy | Pankhurst Memorial Library | 2.7 | 33 | B− |
| Amboy Township | Pankhurst Memorial Library | 2.7 | 33 | B+ |
| Marion Township | None 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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’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 Amboy
Does Amboy have a public library?
Yes. Pankhurst Memorial Library, 3 South Jefferson Avenue, serves Amboy’s 2,278 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pankhurst Memorial Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Amboy’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 2.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Amboy’s civic life grade?
B− Amboy is ahead of 47% 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 Amboy.
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.