Spring Valley’s library lends 2.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library serves Spring Valley’s 5,582 residents. Last year it lent 12K print books and media and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Spring Valley’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
31% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 62%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 199 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library holds 38,000 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.
What’s behind Spring Valley’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Spring Valley is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #545 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Spring Valley’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Spring Valley’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Spring Valley
3.1 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Spring Valley’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 Spring Valley’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library serves 5,582 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
12K 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 Spring Valley’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
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.
Find it
Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library, 215 East Cleveland Street, Spring Valley.
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 $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spring Valley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $208K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $221K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $208K 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 812 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Spring Valley ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peru Township | Peru Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 58 | — graded with its twin city |
| Spring Valley | Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library fine-free | 2.2 | 39 | C− |
| Hall Township | Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library fine-free | 2.2 | 39 | C |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Spring Valley
Does Spring Valley have a public library?
Yes. Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library, 215 East Cleveland Street, serves Spring Valley’s 5,582 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Richard A. Mautino Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Spring Valley’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 2.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Spring Valley’s civic life grade?
C− Spring Valley is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #545 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 Spring Valley.
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.