Durham-Perry Farmstead · Photo: Teemu08 · CC BY-SA 3.0Bourbonnais’ library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Bourbonnais Public Library District serves 26,687 people in and around Bourbonnais. Last year it lent 85K print books and media and logged 84K visits.
What’s behind Bourbonnais’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bourbonnais is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #434 of 754 in Illinois. Bourbonnais is graded on two of the three inputs. Bourbonnais’ 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 ($61K–$102K) 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 →
69 community nonprofits are registered in Bourbonnais
3.8 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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Bourbonnais’ 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 Bourbonnais’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bourbonnais Public Library District serves 26,687 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bourbonnais Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
85K 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 Bourbonnais’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 4 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
Bourbonnais Public Library District, 250 West John Casey Road, Bourbonnais.
Good at every Bourbonnais Public Library District branch.
New in Bourbonnais? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bourbonnais cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 7,207 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.
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. Bourbonnais Public Library District serves 26,687 people in and around Bourbonnais, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bourbonnais.
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 Bourbonnais
Does Bourbonnais have a public library?
Yes. Bourbonnais Public Library District, 250 West John Casey Road, serves 26,687 people in and around Bourbonnais (the survey’s count).
Is Bourbonnais Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bourbonnais’ library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 3.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bourbonnais’ civic life grade?
C+ Bourbonnais is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #434 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 Bourbonnais.
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.