Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5Byron’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Byron Public Library District serves 7,859 people in and around Byron. Last year it lent 82K print books and media and logged 63K visits.
What Byron’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Byron Public Library District logs 8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Byron Public Library District spends $128 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
12,000 people came to the system’s 641 programs last year: 1.5 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; Byron Public Library District serves 7,859 people in and around Byron, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Byron’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Byron is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #307 of 754 in Illinois. Byron is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Byron’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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Byron
2.6 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.
10.0%
10.0% of Byron’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 Byron’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Byron Public Library District serves 7,859 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Byron Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
82K 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 Byron’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Find it
Byron Public Library District, 100 South Washington Street, Byron.
No late fees. Good at every Byron Public Library District branch.
New in Byron? 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 $1.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Byron cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 2,500 cardholders ÷ 12.
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. Byron Public Library District serves 7,859 people in and around Byron, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Byron.
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 Byron
Does Byron have a public library?
Yes. Byron Public Library District, 100 South Washington Street, serves 7,859 people in and around Byron (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Byron Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Byron’s library?
It logged 8.0 visits and lent 10.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Byron’s civic life grade?
B− Byron is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #307 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 Byron.
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.