Flagg Township Public Library · Photo: Andy McMurray · CC BY 2.5Rochelle’s library runs 2.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District serves 13,296 people in and around Rochelle. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
Rochelle’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District offered 39 programs last year, 2.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Flagg Township Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Today’s library there has 20,910 square feet. The building ↓
Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District serves more than Rochelle
The library’s service area covers 13,296 people in and around Rochelle, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District holds 48,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years 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.
What’s behind Rochelle’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rochelle is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #258 of 754 in Illinois. Rochelle is graded on two of the three inputs. Rochelle’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Rochelle
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Rochelle’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 Rochelle’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1973
Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District, 619 Fourth Avenue, Rochelle.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Flagg Township Public Library
Flagg Township Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 25, 1973. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Sullivanesque.
Flagg Township Public Library is a library in Rochelle, Illinois. It is a Carnegie library, designed in 1912 by Claude and Starck. The library joined the National Register on October 25, 1973.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District serves 13,296 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
6,315 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
39 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rochelle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $413K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $488K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $413K 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 3,342 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochelle | Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District | 2.3 | 59 | B |
| Flagg Township | Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District | 2.3 | 59 | C |
| Dement Township | Creston-Dement Public Library District | — | 40 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hillcrest | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Rochelle
Does Rochelle have a public library?
Yes. Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District, 619 Fourth Avenue, serves 13,296 people in and around Rochelle (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Flagg-Rochelle Public Library District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rochelle’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rochelle’s civic life grade?
B Rochelle is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #258 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 Rochelle.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.