Photo: Nyttend · Public domainOrel Township’s library logs 1.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Wayne City Kissner Public Library serves 994 people in and around Orel Township. Last year it lent 1,875 print books and media and logged 1,861 visits.
What Orel Township’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Wayne City Kissner Public Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Wayne City Kissner Public Library serves 994 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Wayne City Kissner Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Wayne City Kissner Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Wayne City Kissner Public Library holds 22,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Orel Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Orel Township is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. Orel Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Orel Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Orel Township
2.9 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.5%
9.5% of Orel 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 Orel Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Wayne City Kissner Public Library serves 994 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
1,875 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 Orel Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
6 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Wayne City Kissner Public Library, 102 South Main Street, Wayne City.
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 $1.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orel Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $36K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 82 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orel Township | Wayne City Kissner Public Library | 1.9 | 20 | B− |
| Wayne City | Wayne City Kissner Public Library | 1.9 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Big Mound Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Arrington Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Four Mile Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Crouch Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hickory Hill 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 Orel Township
Does Orel Township have a public library?
Yes. Wayne City Kissner Public Library, 102 South Main Street, serves 994 people in and around Orel Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wayne City Kissner Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Orel Township’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 1.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Orel Township’s civic life grade?
B− Orel Township is ahead of 54% 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 Orel 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.