Washington Township’s library is a branch of Beecher Community Library District, which lends more per resident than 59% of systems its size
Washington Township’s library is the Beecher Public Library District, a branch of Beecher Community Library District, which serves 6,789 people and lent 32K items last year.
What stands out about Beecher Public Library District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Washington Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Washington Township is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #444 of 754 in Illinois. Washington Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($77K–$128K) 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Washington Township
4.4 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Washington Township’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 Washington Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Beecher Community Library District serves 6,789 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Beecher Community Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
32K 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 Washington Township’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
Beecher Public Library District, 660 Penfield Street, Beecher.
Good at every Beecher Community Library District branch.
New in Washington Township? The Handbook →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 $1.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Washington Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $314K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $562K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $314K 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 1,188 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowhead Township | Grant Park Public Library | 2.4 | 25 | B− |
| Washington Township | Beecher Public Library District | — | 46 | C+ |
| Crete Township | Crete Public Library District fine-free | — | 56 | C− |
| Will Township | None of its own | — | — | 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. Beecher Community Library District 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.
- System-wide. Beecher Public Library District is one branch of Beecher Community Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 6,789 people it serves.
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 Washington Township
Does Washington Township have a public library?
Yes: Beecher Public Library District, 660 Penfield Street, is a branch of Beecher Community Library District, which serves 6,789 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beecher Community Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Washington Township’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Washington Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Washington Township is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #444 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 Washington 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.