Photo: Daytripper07 (Uploads) · CC BY 2.5Bunker Hill’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bunker Hill Public Library District serves 3,992 people in and around Bunker Hill. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,700 visits.
Bunker Hill’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Bunker Hill Public Library District sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 103 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 36 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Bunker Hill Public Library District serves 3,992 people in and around Bunker Hill, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bunker Hill’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bunker Hill is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns. Bunker Hill is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bunker Hill’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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Bunker Hill
3.6 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
17.3%
17.3% of Bunker Hill’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 Bunker Hill’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bunker Hill Public Library District serves 3,992 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bunker Hill Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,515 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 2 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
Bunker Hill Public Library District, 220 East Warren Street, Bunker Hill.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Bunker Hill Public Library District branch.
New in Bunker Hill? 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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bunker Hill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $96K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $213K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $96K 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 464 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bunker Hill Public Library District serves 3,992 people in and around Bunker Hill, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bunker Hill.
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 Bunker Hill
Does Bunker Hill have a public library?
Yes. Bunker Hill Public Library District, 220 East Warren Street, serves 3,992 people in and around Bunker Hill (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bunker Hill Public Library District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bunker Hill’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bunker Hill’s civic life grade?
A− Bunker Hill is ahead of 83% 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 Bunker Hill.
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.