Cherry Valley’s library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Cherry Valley Public Library District serves 13,894 people in and around Cherry Valley. Last year it lent 125K print books and media and logged 61K visits.
What stands out about Cherry Valley Public Library District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Cherry Valley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cherry Valley is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #654 of 754 in Illinois. Cherry Valley is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($56K–$93K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Cherry Valley
1.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
6.9%
6.9% of Cherry Valley’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 Cherry Valley’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cherry Valley Public Library District serves 13,894 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 38 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cherry Valley Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
125K 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 Cherry Valley’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Find it
Cherry Valley Public Library District, 755 East State Street, Cherry Valley.
Good at every Cherry Valley Public Library District branch.
New in Cherry Valley? 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 $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cherry Valley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M 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 4,252 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belvidere | Ida Public Library | 3.3 | 56 | C+ |
| Rockford | Rockford Public Library | 3.0 | 60 | C− |
| Rockford Township | Rockford Public Library | 3.0 | 60 | — graded with its twin city |
| Cherry Valley | Cherry Valley Public Library District | — | 63 | D |
| Cherry Valley Township | Cherry Valley Public Library District | — | 63 | D |
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. Cherry Valley Public Library District serves 13,894 people in and around Cherry Valley, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cherry Valley.
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 Cherry Valley
Does Cherry Valley have a public library?
Yes. Cherry Valley Public Library District, 755 East State Street, serves 13,894 people in and around Cherry Valley (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cherry Valley Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cherry Valley’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 9.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cherry Valley’s civic life grade?
D Cherry Valley is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #654 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 Cherry Valley.
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.