Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBeardstown’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library serves Beardstown’s 5,951 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
Beardstown’s library, in brief
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 139 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 40 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library holds 25,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% 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.
What’s behind Beardstown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Beardstown is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #399 of 754 in Illinois. Beardstown’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$76K) 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Beardstown
5.8 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.0%
4.0% of Beardstown’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 Beardstown’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library serves 5,951 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
About 2 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Beardstown last year.
Find it
Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library, 13 Boulevard Road, Beardstown.
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 $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Beardstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $112K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $182K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $112K 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 810 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Beardstown
Does Beardstown have a public library?
Yes. Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library, 13 Boulevard Road, serves Beardstown’s 5,951 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beardstown Houston Memorial Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Beardstown’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Beardstown’s civic life grade?
C+ Beardstown is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #399 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 Beardstown.
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.