Photo: Nyttend · Public domainNewman’s library logs 2.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Newman Regional Library District serves 1,107 people in and around Newman. Last year it lent 3,105 print books and media and logged 2,465 visits.
What Newman’s library is like
Well funded, but lightly used
Newman Regional Library District spends $111 per resident, more than 86% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 70% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Newman Regional Library District serves 1,107 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 30 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Newman Regional Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Newman Regional Library District serves more than Newman
The library’s service area covers 1,107 people in and around Newman, 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Newman’s civic life grade
Newman isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $123K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $59K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $123K 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 192 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Newman Regional Library District serves 1,107 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3,105 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 Newman’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
63 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.
Find it
Newman Regional Library District, 207 South Coffin Street Suite D, Newman.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 Newman
Does Newman have a public library?
Yes. Newman Regional Library District, 207 South Coffin Street Suite D, serves 1,107 people in and around Newman (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newman Regional Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Newman’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Newman’s civic life grade?
Newman isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Newman.
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.