Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Lewistown’s library runs 5.7 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District serves 4,712 people in and around Lewistown. Last year it lent 9,922 print books and media and logged 6,202 visits.
What Lewistown’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District offered 27 programs last year, 5.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
4,529 cards for 4,712 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. 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; Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District serves 4,712 people in and around Lewistown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lewistown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lewistown is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. Lewistown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lewistown’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Lewistown
7.3 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.4%
10.4% of Lewistown’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 Lewistown’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District serves 4,712 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
9,922 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 Lewistown’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
27 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District, 1126 North Main, Lewistown.
Good at every Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District branch.
New in Lewistown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lewistown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $236K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $184K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $236K 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 4,529 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
- System-wide. Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District serves 4,712 people in and around Lewistown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lewistown.
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 Lewistown
Does Lewistown have a public library?
Yes. Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District, 1126 North Main, serves 4,712 people in and around Lewistown (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lewistown Carnegie Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lewistown’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lewistown’s civic life grade?
A Lewistown is ahead of 94% 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 Lewistown.
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.