Photo: Robert Haugland · CC BY-SA 4.0Port Byron’s library lends 9.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
River Valley District Library serves Port Byron’s 5,153 residents. Last year it lent 51K print books and media and logged 30K visits.
Port Byron’s library, in brief
Port Byron is a town of borrowers
River Valley District Library lends 9.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Port Byron invests in its library
River Valley District Library spends $96 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Port Byron’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Port Byron is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns. Port Byron is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Port Byron’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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Port Byron
2.8 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.2%
14.2% of Port Byron’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 Port Byron’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
River Valley District Library serves 5,153 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
51K 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 Port Byron’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 37K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
Find it
River Valley District Library, 214 South Main Street, Port Byron.
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 $1.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Port Byron cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $497K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $935K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $497K 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 1,125 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Byron | River Valley District Library fine-free | 9.8 | 57 | B+ |
| Port Byron Township | River Valley District Library fine-free | 9.8 | 57 | A− |
| Rapids City | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Coe Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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 Port Byron
Does Port Byron have a public library?
Yes. River Valley District Library, 214 South Main Street, serves Port Byron’s 5,153 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is River Valley District Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Port Byron’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 9.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Port Byron’s civic life grade?
B+ Port Byron is ahead of 70% 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 Port Byron.
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.