Mary's River Covered Bridge · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainChester’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Chester Public Library serves Chester’s 6,814 residents. Last year it lent 12K print books and media and logged 9,045 visits.
Chester’s library, in brief
Chester Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Chester Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $25 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people Chester Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Chester Public Library holds 26,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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.
What’s behind Chester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chester is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #343 of 754 in Illinois. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Chester
3.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.8%
10.8% of Chester’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 Chester’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Chester Public Library serves 6,814 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
12K 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 Chester’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Chester Public Library, 733 State Street, Chester.
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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $172K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $242K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $172K 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 671 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.
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 Chester
Does Chester have a public library?
Yes. Chester Public Library, 733 State Street, serves Chester’s 6,814 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chester Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Chester’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Chester’s civic life grade?
B− Chester is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #343 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 Chester.
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.