Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5Forreston’s library lends 7.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Forreston Public Library serves Forreston’s 1,435 residents. Last year it lent 10K print books and media and logged 5,126 visits.
What Forreston’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
89% of the 84 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 46 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Forreston Public Library serves 1,435 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 31 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 residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people Forreston Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
28% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 57%. What your card is worth ↓
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 Forreston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Forreston is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. Forreston’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Forreston
5.2 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Forreston’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 Forreston’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Forreston Public Library serves 1,435 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
10K 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 Forreston’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
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
Forreston Public Library, 204 First Avenue, Forreston.
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 $4.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Forreston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $45K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $187K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $45K 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 258 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forreston | Forreston Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 31 | B |
| Forreston Township | Forreston Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 31 | B− |
| Maryland 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 Forreston
Does Forreston have a public library?
Yes. Forreston Public Library, 204 First Avenue, serves Forreston’s 1,435 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Forreston Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Forreston’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 7.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Forreston’s civic life grade?
B Forreston is ahead of 61% 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 Forreston.
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.