Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Vandalia’s library runs 11 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Evans Public Library District serves 11,960 people in and around Vandalia. Last year it lent 35K print books and media and logged 32K visits.
The short version on Vandalia’s library
Illinois pays a big share
85% of the budget comes from the state, and 15% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Evans Public Library District sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 129 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 45 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Evans Public Library District serves 11,960 people in and around Vandalia, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Vandalia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Vandalia is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #209 of 754 in Illinois. Vandalia is graded on two of the three inputs. Vandalia’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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Vandalia
7.1 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Vandalia’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 Vandalia’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Evans Public Library District serves 11,960 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Evans Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
35K 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 Vandalia’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Evans Public Library District, 215 South Fifth Street, Vandalia.
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 $1.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vandalia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $487K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $619K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $487K 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 1,178 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vandalia | Evans Public Library District | — | 56 | B+ |
| Sharon Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Sefton 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.
- System-wide. Evans Public Library District serves 11,960 people in and around Vandalia, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Vandalia.
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 Vandalia
Does Vandalia have a public library?
Yes. Evans Public Library District, 215 South Fifth Street, serves 11,960 people in and around Vandalia (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Evans Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Vandalia’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 3.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Vandalia’s civic life grade?
B+ Vandalia is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #209 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 Vandalia.
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.