Hauge Lutheran Church · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Mission Township’s library runs 70 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Robert W. Rowe Public Library District serves Mission Township’s 4,856 residents. Last year it lent 11K print books and media and logged 6,321 visits.
What Mission Township’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people Robert W. Rowe Public Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
65% of the 340 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 88 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Mission Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mission Township is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #523 of 754 in Illinois. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Mission Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Mission Township
1.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
11.3%
11.3% of Mission 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 Mission Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Robert W. Rowe Public Library District serves 4,856 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
11K 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 Mission Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 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
Robert W. Rowe Public Library District, 120 East Si Johnson Avenue, Sheridan.
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 $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mission Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $189K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $216K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $189K 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 541 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission Township | Robert W. Rowe Public Library District | 2.2 | 40 | C |
| Sheridan | Robert W. Rowe Public Library District | 2.2 | 40 | B− |
| Big Grove Township | Charles B. Phillips Public Library District fine-free | — | 46 | A |
| Serena Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Northville Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Fox Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Miller Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Millington | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Robert W. Rowe 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 Mission Township
Does Mission Township have a public library?
Yes. Robert W. Rowe Public Library District, 120 East Si Johnson Avenue, serves Mission Township’s 4,856 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Robert W. Rowe Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mission Township’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mission Township’s civic life grade?
C Mission Township is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #523 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 Mission 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.