Photo: Ron Frazier · CC BY 2.0Bushnell Township’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bushnell Public Library District serves 3,833 people in and around Bushnell Township. Last year it lent 7,400 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,358 visits.
What Bushnell Township’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Bushnell Public Library District sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bushnell Public Library District offered 16 programs last year, 4.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Bushnell Public Library District serves 3,833 people in and around Bushnell Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bushnell Township’s civic life grade
Bushnell Township isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bushnell Public Library District serves 3,833 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bushnell Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
7,400 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
16 programs a year
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
Bushnell Public Library District, 455 North Dean Street, Bushnell.
Good at every Bushnell Public Library District branch.
New in Bushnell 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 $1.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bushnell Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $99K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $126K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $99K 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 428 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bushnell Township | Bushnell Public Library District | — | 33 | — graded with its twin city |
| Prairie City Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mound Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lee Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Walnut Grove Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Bushnell Public Library District serves 3,833 people in and around Bushnell Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bushnell 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 Bushnell Township
Does Bushnell Township have a public library?
Yes. Bushnell Public Library District, 455 North Dean Street, serves 3,833 people in and around Bushnell Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bushnell Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bushnell Township’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bushnell Township’s civic life grade?
Bushnell Township isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Bushnell 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.