Photo: Huwmanbeing · CC BY-SA 4.0Forrest Township’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Forrest Public Library District serves Forrest Township’s 1,910 residents. Last year it lent 23K print books and media and logged 6,478 visits.
What Forrest Township’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
97% of the 95 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 45 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Forrest Public Library District serves 1,910 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 36 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 ↓
Forrest Township is a town of borrowers
Forrest Public Library District lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. 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 Forrest Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Forrest Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. Forrest Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Forrest Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($65K–$108K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Forrest Township
2.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.9%
4.9% of Forrest 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 Forrest Township’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
23K 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 Forrest Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Forrest Public Library District serves 1,910 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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
Forrest Public Library District, 301 West James Street, Forrest.
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 $2.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Forrest Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $181K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $424K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $181K 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 424 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Forrest Township borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forrest Township | Forrest Public Library District fine-free | 12.1 | 36 | D |
| Indian Grove Township | Dominy Memorial Library fine-free | 10.6 | 41 | C |
| Chatsworth Township | Chatsworth Area Library fine-free | 2.2 | 29 | — graded with its twin city |
| Pleasant Ridge 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.
- 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 Forrest Township
Does Forrest Township have a public library?
Yes. Forrest Public Library District, 301 West James Street, serves Forrest Township’s 1,910 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Forrest Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Forrest Township’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 12.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Forrest Township’s civic life grade?
D Forrest Township is ahead of 9% 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 Forrest 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.