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Courthouse square in Mount PulaskiPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
Mount Pulaski Public Library District

Mount Pulaski Township’s library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size

Mount Pulaski Public Library District serves 2,721 people in and around Mount Pulaski Township. Last year it lent 16K print books and media and logged 2,500 visits.

320 North Washington Street, Mount Pulaski 62548 · about 46 hours a week
ACivic lifeAhead of 91% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
16K
5.7 per resident
Visits a year
2,500
0.9 per resident · Below typical (3)
Programs & events
56
about 1 a week · 1,816 attended
Cardholders
20%
540 cards
Open
46 hrs
a week
In brief

What Mount Pulaski Township’s library is like

People borrow more than they stay

Borrowing per resident is higher than at 70% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 90%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓

Mount Pulaski Public Library District serves more than Mount Pulaski Township

The library’s service area covers 2,721 people in and around Mount Pulaski Township, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Mount Pulaski Township’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Pulaski Township is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. Mount Pulaski Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mount Pulaski Township’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.

A
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Pulaski Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 91%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $55K–$91K (9,188)Ahead of 90%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Mount Pulaski Township is small (2,018 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

15 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Pulaski Township

7.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.51 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation31.54 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans31.54 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services21.03 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education21.03 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.51 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other31.54 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

9.4%

9.4% of Mount Pulaski 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 Mount Pulaski Township’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 0.9 visits · typical 3Bottom 10%
Borrowing per resident 5.7 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 70%
Program attendance 0.7 attendees · typical 0.5Higher than 61%
Programs offered 20.6 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 69%
Cardholders 20% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 86%
Spending $55 per resident · typical $43Higher than 66%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Mount Pulaski Public Library District serves 2,721 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

2,500
visits
0.9 per resident
16K
loans, print + digital
5.7 per resident
56
programs & events
1,816 attended
540
library cards
20% of people served
Every open hour6items borrowed
Every week35people at a program
Every day8Wi-Fi sessions
2 staff (full-time equivalent)2 public computers20K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

16K 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 Mount Pulaski Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

How hard the shelves work
0.8×

Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.

Kids & programs

56 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Mount Pulaski Township →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–516
Ages 6–1116
Teens10
Adults14
All ages0
Little ones
0.3

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

1,816
people at programs
56
programs
The building

Find it

Mount Pulaski Public Library District, 320 North Washington Street, Mount Pulaski.

46
hours open a week
6,900
square feet
20K
books & media

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.94 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Pulaski Township cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
2
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$408
a year at retail prices · $34 a month

Who pays for it
$55 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $150K.

Local taxes 92%State 8%Gifts & other 0%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $291K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $150K 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 540 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Mount Pulaski TownshipMount Pulaski Public Library District fine-free5.746A
Elkhart TownshipElkhart Public Library District fine-free3.440— under 1,000 residents
Chester TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Laenna TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Lanesville TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Lake Fork TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Buffalo Hart TownshipNone 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).

How to read these numbers

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 Mount Pulaski Township

Does Mount Pulaski Township have a public library?

Yes. Mount Pulaski Public Library District, 320 North Washington Street, serves 2,721 people in and around Mount Pulaski Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Mount Pulaski Public Library District fine-free?

Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Mount Pulaski Township’s library?

It logged 0.9 visits and lent 5.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Mount Pulaski Township’s civic life grade?

A Mount Pulaski Township is ahead of 91% 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 Mount Pulaski Township.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.