Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0Tiskilwa’s library runs 74 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Tiskilwa Public Library serves 1,358 people in and around Tiskilwa. Last year it lent 4,615 print books and media and logged 4,817 visits.
What Tiskilwa’s library is like
A small-town library
Tiskilwa Public Library serves 1,358 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 37 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 ↓
Tiskilwa Public Library serves more than Tiskilwa
The library’s service area covers 1,358 people in and around Tiskilwa, 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 Tiskilwa’s civic life grade
Tiskilwa 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Tiskilwa Public Library serves 1,358 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
4,615 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 Tiskilwa’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Tiskilwa Public Library, 119 East Main Street, Tiskilwa.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tiskilwa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $111K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $103K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $111K 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 755 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Tiskilwa
Does Tiskilwa have a public library?
Yes. Tiskilwa Public Library, 119 East Main Street, serves 1,358 people in and around Tiskilwa (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tiskilwa Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Tiskilwa’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 3.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Tiskilwa’s civic life grade?
Tiskilwa 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 Tiskilwa.
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.