Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWhitmore Township’s library lends 6.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Argenta-Oreana Public Library District serves Whitmore Township’s 3,861 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 24K print books and media and logged 11K visits.
What Whitmore Township’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
42% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 55%. What your card is worth ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Argenta-Oreana Public Library District charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Whitmore Township invests in its library
Argenta-Oreana Public Library District spends $91 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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 Whitmore Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Whitmore Township is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #521 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$96K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Whitmore Township
2.5 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.
7.2%
7.2% of Whitmore 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 Whitmore Township’s residents live; 2022.
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 Whitmore Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $352K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $448K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $352K 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 742 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Argenta-Oreana Public Library District serves 3,861 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
24K 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 Whitmore Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
81 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.
2 places to borrow in Whitmore Township
Argenta-Oreana Public Library District, 211 South Route 48, Oreana.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Whitmore Township
Libraries next door
Whitmore Township ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hickory Point Township | Forsyth Public Library fine-free | 12.7 | 55 | C− |
| Whitmore Township | Argenta-Oreana Public Library District | 6.3 | 39 | C |
| Friends Creek Township | Argenta Branch Library | 6.3 | 39 | B− |
| Decatur | Decatur Public Library fine-free | 3.1 | 59 | C− |
| Decatur Township | Decatur Public Library fine-free | 3.1 | 59 | C |
| Oakley 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.
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 Whitmore Township
Does Whitmore Township have a public library?
Yes. Argenta-Oreana Public Library District, 211 South Route 48, serves Whitmore Township’s 3,861 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Argenta-Oreana Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Whitmore Township’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 6.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Whitmore Township’s civic life grade?
C Whitmore Township is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #521 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 Whitmore 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.