Delavan Commercial Historic District · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Delavan’s library lends 5.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Ayer Public Library District serves 2,574 people in and around Delavan. Last year it lent 15K print books and media and logged 6,601 visits.
What Delavan’s library is like
The branch is a National Register landmark
Ayer Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998. Today’s library there has 5,040 square feet. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
61% of the 135 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 41 were for children. 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; Ayer Public Library District serves 2,574 people in and around Delavan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Delavan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Delavan is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. Delavan is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Delavan’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Delavan
6.0 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.
9.3%
9.3% of Delavan’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 Delavan’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1998
Ayer Public Library District, 208 Locust Street, Delavan.
No late fees. Good at every Ayer Public Library District branch.
New in Delavan? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Ayer Public Library
Ayer Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 12, 1998. It is significant for its education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Illinois Carnegie Libraries MPS.
The Ayer Public Library is a Carnegie library located at 208 Locust Street in Delavan, Illinois.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ayer Public Library District serves 2,574 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ayer Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
15K 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 Delavan’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
135 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Delavan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $188K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $271K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $188K 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 525 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. Ayer Public Library District serves 2,574 people in and around Delavan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Delavan.
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 Delavan
Does Delavan have a public library?
Yes. Ayer Public Library District, 208 Locust Street, serves 2,574 people in and around Delavan (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ayer Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Delavan’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 5.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Delavan’s civic life grade?
A Delavan is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Delavan.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.