Power Farmstead · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFancy Creek Township’s library lends 7.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Sherman Public Library District serves 4,673 people in and around Fancy Creek Township. Last year it lent 37K print books and media and logged 21K visits.
What stands out about Fancy Creek Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fancy Creek Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fancy Creek Township is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #179 of 754 in Illinois. Fancy Creek Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Fancy Creek Township
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.8%
9.8% of Fancy Creek 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 Fancy Creek Township’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
37K 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 Fancy Creek Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
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.
Sherman Public Library District serves 4,673 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Sherman Public Library District, 2100 East Andrew Road, Sherman.
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 Fancy Creek Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $284K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $659K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $284K 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 995 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fancy Creek Township ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams Township | Williamsville Public Library fine-free | 9.3 | 37 | C+ |
| Fancy Creek Township | Sherman Public Library District fine-free | 7.8 | 62 | B+ |
| Sherman | Sherman Public Library District fine-free | 7.8 | 62 | A− |
| Springfield | Lincoln Library fine-free | 3.0 | 51 | B− |
| Capital Township | Lincoln Library fine-free | 3.0 | 51 | B− |
| Gardner Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Springfield Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
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 Fancy Creek Township
Does Fancy Creek Township have a public library?
Yes. Sherman Public Library District, 2100 East Andrew Road, serves 4,673 people in and around Fancy Creek Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sherman Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fancy Creek Township’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 7.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fancy Creek Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Fancy Creek Township is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #179 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 Fancy Creek 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.