Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Blackberry Township’s library runs 63 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Town and Country Public Library District serves 11,823 people in and around Blackberry Township. Last year it lent 97K print books and media and logged 51K visits.
What Blackberry Township’s library is like
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Town and Country Public Library District ran 741 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 63 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Blackberry Township branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Town and Country Public Library District spends $121 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) 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; Town and Country Public Library District serves 11,823 people in and around Blackberry Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Blackberry Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Blackberry Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #330 of 754 in Illinois. Blackberry Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Blackberry Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Blackberry Township
2.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.1%
11.1% of Blackberry 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 Blackberry Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Town and Country Public Library District serves 11,823 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Town and Country Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
97K 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 Blackberry Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Find it
Town and Country Public Library District, 320 East North Street, Elburn.
No late fees. Good at every Town and Country Public Library District branch.
New in Blackberry Township? 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 $1.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blackberry Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 5,752 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batavia Township | Batavia Public Library District | 15.5 | 67 | B+ |
| Kaneville Township | Kaneville Public Library District fine-free | 7.7 | 32 | B |
| North Aurora | Messenger Public Library of North Aurora fine-free | 7.3 | 65 | C+ |
| Sugar Grove Township | Sugar Grove Public Library District | 6.4 | 50 | C+ |
| Blackberry Township | Town and Country Public Library District fine-free | — | 68 | B− |
| Geneva Township | Geneva Public Library District fine-free | — | 69 | A |
| Campton Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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.
- System-wide. Town and Country Public Library District serves 11,823 people in and around Blackberry Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Blackberry Township.
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 Blackberry Township
Does Blackberry Township have a public library?
Yes. Town and Country Public Library District, 320 East North Street, serves 11,823 people in and around Blackberry Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Town and Country Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Blackberry Township’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 8.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Blackberry Township’s civic life grade?
B− Blackberry Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #330 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 Blackberry 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.