Photo: SD Dirk · CC BY 2.0Hanover Township’s library runs 2.5 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Hanover Township Library serves Hanover Township’s 1,203 residents. Last year it lent 4,272 print books and media and logged 1,789 visits.
What Hanover Township’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Hanover Township Library offered 3 programs last year, 2.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Hanover Township Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Hanover Township Library serves 1,203 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 19 hours a week
Hanover Township Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Bellevue Public Library in Bellevue, next door, is open about 44 hours a week. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people Hanover Township Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Hanover Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hanover Township is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. Hanover Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$55K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Hanover Township
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Hanover 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 Hanover Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hanover Township Library serves 1,203 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
4,272 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 Hanover Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 8,801 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
3 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Hanover Township Library, 204 Jefferson Street, Hanover.
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 $1.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hanover Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $60K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $74K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $60K 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 153 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hanover Township ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellevue | Bellevue Public Library | 7.2 | 44 | A |
| Elizabeth Township | Elizabeth Township Public Library | 6.9 | 34 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hanover Township | Hanover Township Library fine-free | 3.6 | 19 | C+ |
| Rice Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Derinda Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Washington 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 Hanover Township
Does Hanover Township have a public library?
Yes. Hanover Township Library, 204 Jefferson Street, serves Hanover Township’s 1,203 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hanover Township Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hanover Township’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hanover Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Hanover Township is ahead of 36% 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 Hanover 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.