Photo: Nyttend · Public domainLoda Township’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
A. Herr Smith & E.E. Smith Loda Township Library serves Loda Township’s 1,429 residents. Last year it lent 5,167 print books and media and logged 2,796 visits.
The short version on Loda Township’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, A. Herr Smith & E.E. Smith Loda 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
A. Herr Smith & E.E. Smith Loda Township Library serves 1,429 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 34 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Smith, A. Herr and E. E., Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995. Today’s library there has 1,400 square feet. The building ↓
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 Loda Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Loda Township is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns. All three 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 ($71K–$118K) 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 Loda Township
3.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Loda 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 Loda Township’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1995
A. Herr Smith & E.E. Smith Loda Township Library, 105 East Adams Street, Loda.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Smith, A. Herr and E. E., Public Library
Smith, A. Herr and E. E., Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 4, 1995. It is significant for its education and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Romanesque Revival.
The A. Herr and E. E. Smith Public Library is a historic public library located at 105 Adams Street in Loda, Illinois. The library's origins date back to 1858, when the Loda Literary Society was formed. The society originally had no permanent site for its book collection, and it traveled through several town buildings before the society formed a committee to establish a permanent library in 1894.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
A. Herr Smith & E.E. Smith Loda Township Library serves 1,429 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
5,167 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 Loda Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 7,052 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
19 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.
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 Loda Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $74K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $91K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $74K 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 360 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loda Township | A. Herr Smith & E.E. Smith Loda Township Library | 3.6 | 34 | C− |
| Pigeon Grove Township | Cissna Park Community Library District fine-free | — | 46 | B− |
| Artesia Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wall 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 Loda Township
Does Loda Township have a public library?
Yes. A. Herr Smith & E.E. Smith Loda Township Library, 105 East Adams Street, serves Loda Township’s 1,429 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is A. Herr Smith & E.E. Smith Loda Township Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Loda Township’s library?
It logged 2.0 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 Loda Township’s civic life grade?
C− Loda Township is ahead of 23% 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 Loda 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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.