Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Greenfield

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Greenfield Public Library

Greenfield’s library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size

Greenfield Public Library serves Greenfield’s 1,059 residents. Last year it lent 5,987 print books and media and logged 3,689 visits.

515 Chestnut Street, Greenfield 62044 · about 22 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: fewer than 1,000 residents
Borrowed a year
5,987
5.7 per resident
Visits a year
3,689
3.5 per resident · Below typical (3.5)
Programs & events
72
about 1 a week · 951 attended
Cardholders
22%
229 cards
Open
22 hrs
a week
In brief

What Greenfield’s library is like

Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes

66% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 30%. What your card is worth ↓

A small-town library

Greenfield Public Library serves 1,059 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓

Open only about 22 hours a week

Greenfield Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓

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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Greenfield’s civic life grade

Greenfield isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Greenfield’s overall grade.

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 →

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 3.5 visits · typical 3.5Higher than 50%
Borrowing per resident 5.7 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 67%
Program attendance 0.9 attendees · typical 0.7Higher than 59%
Programs offered 68 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Higher than 55%
Cardholders 22% of residents · typical 54%Lower than 87%
Spending $44 per resident · typical $54Lower than 62%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Greenfield Public Library serves 1,059 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

3,689
visits
3.5 per resident
5,987
loans, print + digital
5.7 per resident
72
programs & events
951 attended
229
library cards
22% of people served
Every open hour5items borrowed
Every week18people at a program
Every day8Wi-Fi sessions
1 staff (full-time equivalent)3 public computers7,980 books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

5,987 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 Greenfield’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

How hard the shelves work
0.8×

Each of the 7,980 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.

Kids & programs

72 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Greenfield →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–510
Ages 6–110
Teens1
Adults11
All ages50
Little ones
0.2

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

951
people at programs
72
programs
The building

Find it

Greenfield Public Library, 515 Chestnut Street, Greenfield.

22
hours open a week
2,000
square feet
7,980
books & media
With a card

No late fees.

New in Greenfield? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.57 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greenfield cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
2
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
1
Your card saves you about
$444
a year at retail prices · $37 a month

Who pays for it
$44 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.

Local taxes 30%State 4%Gifts & other 66%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $120K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K 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 229 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
GreenfieldGreenfield Public Library fine-free5.722— graded with its twin city
Rockbridge TownshipGreenfield Public Library fine-free5.722B+
Rubicon TownshipNone 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).

How to read these numbers

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 Greenfield

Does Greenfield have a public library?

Yes. Greenfield Public Library, 515 Chestnut Street, serves Greenfield’s 1,059 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Greenfield Public Library fine-free?

Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Greenfield’s library?

It logged 3.5 visits and lent 5.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Greenfield’s civic life grade?

Greenfield isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Greenfield.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.