Photo: Ron Frazier · CC BY 2.0Bushnell’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. Last year it lent 7,400 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,358 visits.
The short version on Bushnell’s library
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, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bushnell’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bushnell is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #369 of 754 in Illinois. Bushnell is graded on two of the three inputs. Bushnell’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 ($51K–$84K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Bushnell
3.7 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Bushnell’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 Bushnell’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.
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.
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 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.
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, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bushnell.
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
Does Bushnell have a public library?
Yes. Bushnell Public Library District, 455 North Dean Street, serves 3,833 people in and around Bushnell (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’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’s civic life grade?
C+ Bushnell is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #369 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 Bushnell.
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.