Photo: G LeTourneau · CC BY-SA 3.0Batavia’s library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Batavia Public Library District serves Batavia’s 26,256 residents. Last year it lent 406K print books and media and logged 168K visits.
The short version on Batavia’s library
Batavia uses its library more than almost any town its size
Batavia Public Library District logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 94% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Illinois for borrowing
Batavia ranks #17 of 259 Illinois towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 15 items per resident, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Batavia Public Library District charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Batavia out-borrows every town next door
At 15.5 loans per resident, Batavia leads the five towns here. The closest is Batavia Township, at 15.5. Libraries next door ↓
Batavia invests in its library
Batavia Public Library District spends $141 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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.
What’s behind Batavia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Batavia is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #75 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
104 community nonprofits are registered in Batavia
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.9%
12.9% of Batavia’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 Batavia’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
406K 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 Batavia’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 144K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Batavia Public Library District serves 26,256 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 117 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
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
Batavia Public Library District, 10 South Batavia Avenue, Batavia.
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 $1.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Batavia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.7M 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 14,457 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Batavia borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batavia | Batavia Public Library District | 15.5 | 67 | A |
| Batavia Township | Batavia Public Library District | 15.5 | 67 | B+ |
| North Aurora | Messenger Public Library of North Aurora fine-free | 7.3 | 65 | C+ |
| Aurora | Aurora Public Library District fine-free | 5.1 | 66 | C− |
| West Chicago | West Chicago Public Library District fine-free | 4.3 | 65 | C− |
| Geneva | Geneva Public Library District fine-free | — | 69 | A |
| Geneva Township | Geneva Public Library District fine-free | — | 69 | A |
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 Batavia
Does Batavia have a public library?
Yes. Batavia Public Library District, 10 South Batavia Avenue, serves Batavia’s 26,256 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Batavia Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Batavia’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 15.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Batavia’s civic life grade?
A Batavia is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Batavia.
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.