Photo: Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin) · CC BY 2.5Leaf River Township’s library runs 184 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Bertolet Memorial Library District serves 1,444 people in and around Leaf River Township. Last year it lent 12K print books and media and logged 6,108 visits.
The short version on Leaf River Township’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
46% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 53%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Bertolet Memorial Library District serves 1,444 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 39 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 15% of the people Bertolet Memorial Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Bertolet Memorial Library District serves more than Leaf River Township
The library’s service area covers 1,444 people in and around Leaf River Township, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Leaf River Township invests in its library
Bertolet Memorial Library District spends $123 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 Leaf River Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Leaf River Township is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. Leaf River Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($64K–$107K) 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 →
Leaf River Township has few registered community nonprofits
1.2 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.3%
5.3% of Leaf River 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 Leaf River Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bertolet Memorial Library District serves 1,444 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
12K 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 Leaf River Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Find it
Bertolet Memorial Library District, 705 Main Street, Leaf River.
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 $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leaf River Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $178K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $212K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $178K 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 221 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leaf River Township | Bertolet Memorial Library District fine-free | 8.1 | 39 | D− |
| Byron Township | Byron Public Library District fine-free | — | 63 | B+ |
| Maryland Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rockvale Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Seward Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ridott Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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 Leaf River Township
Does Leaf River Township have a public library?
Yes. Bertolet Memorial Library District, 705 Main Street, serves 1,444 people in and around Leaf River Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bertolet Memorial Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Leaf River Township’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 8.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Leaf River Township’s civic life grade?
D− Leaf River Township is ahead of 4% 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 Leaf River 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.