Photo: Tedder · CC BY 4.0Ashland’s library runs 52 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Prairie Skies Public Library District serves 7,073 people in and around Ashland. Last year it lent 34K print books and media and logged 11K visits.
What Ashland’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 367 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.3 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; Prairie Skies Public Library District serves 7,073 people in and around Ashland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ashland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ashland is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Ashland is graded on two of the three inputs. Ashland’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Ashland
7.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.5%
7.5% of Ashland’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 Ashland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Prairie Skies Public Library District serves 7,073 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Prairie Skies Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
34K 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 Ashland’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Prairie Skies Public Library District, 125 West Editor Street, Ashland.
No late fees. Good at every Prairie Skies Public Library District branch.
New in Ashland? 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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $325K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $623K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $325K 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 1,252 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
- System-wide. Prairie Skies Public Library District serves 7,073 people in and around Ashland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ashland.
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 Ashland
Does Ashland have a public library?
Yes. Prairie Skies Public Library District, 125 West Editor Street, serves 7,073 people in and around Ashland (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Prairie Skies Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ashland’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 4.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ashland’s civic life grade?
A− Ashland is ahead of 77% 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 Ashland.
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.