Photo: Uoila1 · Public domainAshton Township’s library logs 2.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium serves 967 people in and around Ashton Township. Last year it lent 3,512 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,293 visits.
Ashton Township’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
70% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 28%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium serves 967 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 24 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 ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 72% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 71% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Ashton Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ashton Township is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. Ashton Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Ashton Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$89K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Ashton Township
1.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.3%
10.3% of Ashton Township’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 Ashton Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium serves 967 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3,512 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
38 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
Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium, 704 North First Street, Ashton.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashton Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $54K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54K 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 470 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Grove Township | Franklin Grove Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 47 | A+ |
| Ashton Township | Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium fine-free | 3.6 | 24 | C+ |
| Lafayette Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Reynolds Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bradford Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Taylor 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.
- 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 Ashton Township
Does Ashton Township have a public library?
Yes. Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium, 704 North First Street, serves 967 people in and around Ashton Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mills & Petrie Memorial Library and Gymnasium fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ashton Township’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ashton Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Ashton Township is ahead of 44% 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 Ashton Township.
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.