Elwood Township’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Elwood Library District serves 1,459 people in and around Elwood Township. Last year it lent 2,429 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,897 visits.
What Elwood Township’s library is like
Elwood Library District is used less than most libraries its size
Elwood Library District records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Elwood Library District offered 8 programs last year, 5.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
The Elwood Township branch keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Elwood Library District serves 1,459 people in and around Elwood Township, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Elwood Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Elwood Township is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns. Elwood Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Elwood Township
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
6.2%
6.2% of Elwood Township’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 Elwood Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Elwood Library District serves 1,459 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Elwood Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,429 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8 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
Elwood Library District, 104 North State Street, Ridge Farm.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elwood Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $60K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $38K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $60K 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 134 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross Township | Chrisman Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 25 | B |
| Georgetown Township | Westville Public Library District | 1.3 | 45 | C− |
| Elwood Township | Elwood Library District | — | 21 | C |
| Love Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Carroll Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Prairie Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Elwood Library District serves 1,459 people in and around Elwood Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Elwood Township.
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 Elwood Township
Does Elwood Township have a public library?
Yes. Elwood Library District, 104 North State Street, serves 1,459 people in and around Elwood Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elwood Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Elwood Township’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Elwood Township’s civic life grade?
C Elwood Township is ahead of 28% 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 Elwood Township.
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.