Witt Township’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Witt Township Memorial Library serves Witt Township’s 1,043 residents. Last year it lent 1,270 print books and media and logged 1,047 visits.
What Witt Township’s library is like
Witt Township Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Witt Township Memorial Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $25 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
Witt Township Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Nokomis Public Library in Nokomis Township, next door, is open about 47 hours a week. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Witt Township Memorial Library offered 2 programs last year, 1.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Witt Township Memorial Library serves 1,043 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people Witt Township Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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 Witt Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Witt Township is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Witt Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Witt Township Memorial Library spends $25 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Witt Township
1.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.1%
4.1% of Witt 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 Witt Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Witt Township Memorial Library serves 1,043 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
1,270 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 Witt Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 9,901 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
2 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Witt Township Memorial Library, 18 North Second Street, Witt.
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 Witt Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $26K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $22K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $26K 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 118 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nokomis Township | Nokomis Public Library | 3.9 | 47 | C− |
| Witt Township | Witt Township Memorial Library fine-free | 1.2 | 15 | D− |
| Irving Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fillmore Consolidated 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 Witt Township
Does Witt Township have a public library?
Yes. Witt Township Memorial Library, 18 North Second Street, serves Witt Township’s 1,043 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Witt Township Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Witt Township’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Witt Township’s civic life grade?
D− Witt Township is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Witt 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.