Walnut Grove Township’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ransom Memorial Public Library serves Walnut Grove Township’s 685 residents. Last year it lent 8,195 print books and media and logged 2,250 visits.
What Walnut Grove Township’s library is like
Nearly everyone in Walnut Grove Township has a card
680 cards for 685 people, or 99%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Ransom Memorial Public Library serves 685 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Ransom Memorial Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Galva Public Library District in Galva Township, next door, is open about 44 hours a week. The building ↓
Walnut Grove Township is a town of borrowers
Ransom Memorial Public Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Walnut Grove Township’s civic life grade
Walnut Grove Township 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 →
Books and media off the shelf
8,195 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 Walnut Grove Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ransom Memorial Public Library serves 685 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
22 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.
Find it
Ransom Memorial Public Library, 110 East Main Street, Altona.
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 $3.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Walnut Grove Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $41K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $147K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $41K 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 680 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Grove Township | Ransom Memorial Public Library fine-free | 12.0 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ontario Township | Greig Memorial Library fine-free | 4.0 | 25 | — graded with its twin city |
| Galva Township | Galva Public Library District fine-free | — | 44 | — graded with its twin city |
| Lynn Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Weller Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Copley 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ransom Memorial Public 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 Walnut Grove Township
Does Walnut Grove Township have a public library?
Yes. Ransom Memorial Public Library, 110 East Main Street, serves Walnut Grove Township’s 685 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ransom Memorial Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Walnut Grove Township’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 12.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Walnut Grove Township’s civic life grade?
Walnut Grove Township 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 Walnut Grove Township.
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.