Hartford’s library logs 2.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Hartford Public Library District serves Hartford’s 1,185 residents. Last year it lent 4,883 print books and media and logged 2,955 visits.
The short version on Hartford’s library
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Hartford Public Library District charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Hartford Public Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Illinois pays a big share
27% of the budget comes from the state, and 70% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Hartford Public Library District holds 34,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Hartford invests in its library
Hartford Public Library District spends $129 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. 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 Hartford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hartford is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Hartford’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Hartford’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($31K–$51K) 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 →
Hartford has few registered community nonprofits
0.0 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of Hartford’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 Hartford’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hartford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $153K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $103K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $153K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 170 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hartford Public Library District serves 1,185 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
4,883 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 Hartford’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
75 programs a year
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
Hartford Public Library District, 143 West Hawthorne Street, Hartford.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Hartford ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roxana | Roxana Public Library District fine-free | 9.7 | 55 | B+ |
| Hartford | Hartford Public Library District | 4.1 | 47 | C− |
| Wood River | Wood River Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 55 | C+ |
| Madison | Madison Public Library | 0.4 | 34 | D |
| Granite City | Six Mile Regional Library District fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| South Roxana | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hartford Public Library District counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Hartford
Does Hartford have a public library?
Yes. Hartford Public Library District, 143 West Hawthorne Street, serves Hartford’s 1,185 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hartford Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hartford’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 4.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hartford’s civic life grade?
C− Hartford is ahead of 18% 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 Hartford.
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.