Evans Township’s library runs 8.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Bond Public Library serves 974 people in and around Evans Township. Last year it lent 3,522 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,980 visits.
What Evans Township’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Bond Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Bond Public Library serves 974 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bond Public Library offered 8 programs last year, 8.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Bond Public Library holds 25,000 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Evans Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Evans Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Evans Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Evans Township’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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Evans Township
2.9 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.
9.2%
9.2% of Evans 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 Evans 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.
Bond Public Library serves 974 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,522 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
8 programs a year
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
Bond Public Library, 208 South Chestnut Street, Wenona.
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 $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Evans Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $29K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $67K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29K 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 481 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evans Township | Bond Public Library | 3.6 | 24 | B− |
| Bennington Township | Toluca Public Library District | 2.0 | 26 | C− |
| Hope Township | Lostant Community Library fine-free | — | 24 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Osage Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Roberts 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Evans Township
Does Evans Township have a public library?
Yes. Bond Public Library, 208 South Chestnut Street, serves 974 people in and around Evans Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bond Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Evans Township’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Evans Township’s civic life grade?
B− Evans Township is ahead of 51% 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 Evans 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.