Limestone Township’s library lends 2.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Limestone Township Library District serves Limestone Township’s 5,003 residents. Last year it lent 13K print books and media and logged 12K visits.
What’s behind Limestone Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Limestone Township is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #658 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Limestone Township’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 ($84K–$140K) 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 →
Limestone Township has few registered community nonprofits
0.1 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Limestone 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 Limestone Township’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.
Limestone Township Library District serves 5,003 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. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
13K 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 Limestone Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 2 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.
Find it
Limestone Township Library, 2701 West Tower Road, Kankakee.
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 Limestone Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $282K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $240K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $282K 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 1,137 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Limestone Township ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourbonnais Township | Bradley Public Library District fine-free | 4.6 | 58 | C− |
| Limestone Township | Limestone Township Library | 2.6 | 52 | D |
| Kankakee Township | Kankakee Public Library | 2.4 | 52 | — graded with its twin city |
| Otto Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Limestone | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Salina Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Rockville Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pilot Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Limestone Township 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 Limestone Township
Does Limestone Township have a public library?
Yes. Limestone Township Library District, 2701 West Tower Road, serves Limestone Township’s 5,003 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Limestone Township Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Limestone Township’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 2.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Limestone Township’s civic life grade?
D Limestone Township is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #658 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Limestone 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.