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Point SchoolPoint School · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0
Grant Park Public Library

Yellowhead Township’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size

Grant Park Public Library serves 1,294 people in and around Yellowhead Township. Last year it lent 3,131 print books and media and logged 1,469 visits.

107 West Taylor Street, Grant Park 60940 · about 25 hours a week
B−Civic lifeAhead of 46% of U.S. towns · #353 of 754 in Illinois. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
3,131
2.4 per resident
Visits a year
1,469
1.1 per resident · Below typical (3.5)
Programs & events
13
about 1 a week · 112 attended
Cardholders
13%
167 cards
Open
25 hrs
a week
In brief

Yellowhead Township’s library, in brief

Below typical on every measure

Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Grant Park Public Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓

A small-town library

Grant Park Public Library serves 1,294 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. 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 13% of the people Grant Park Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓

Few programs for a library this size

Grant Park Public Library offered 13 programs last year, 10 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓

Fewer visits than most libraries its size

Grant Park Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.4 print items per resident. 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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Yellowhead Township’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Yellowhead Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #353 of 754 in Illinois. Yellowhead Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Yellowhead Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.

B−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Yellowhead Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 46%
FewerMore
Illinois towns we grade (754)Ahead of 53%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $71K–$119K (7,727)Ahead of 48%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Yellowhead Township is small (2,549 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

8 community nonprofits are registered in Yellowhead Township

3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.58 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education20.58 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health20.58 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.58 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

8.1%

8.1% of Yellowhead 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 Yellowhead Township’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.1 visits · typical 3.5Bottom 10%
Borrowing per resident 2.4 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 69%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.7Lower than 89%
Programs offered 10 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Lower than 86%
Cardholders 13% of residents · typical 54%Bottom 10%
Spending $28 per resident · typical $54Lower than 83%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Grant Park Public Library serves 1,294 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

1,469
visits
1.1 per resident
3,131
loans, print + digital
2.4 per resident
13
programs & events
112 attended
167
library cards
13% of people served
Every open hour2items borrowed
Every week2people at a program
Every day0Wi-Fi sessions
1 staff (full-time equivalent)1 public computers8,948 books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

3,131 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 Yellowhead Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

How hard the shelves work
0.3×

Each of the 8,948 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.

Kids & programs

13 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Yellowhead Township →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–51
Ages 6–114
Teens1
Adults7
All ages0
Little ones
0

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

112
people at programs
13
programs
The building

Find it

Grant Park Public Library, 107 West Taylor Street, Grant Park.

25
hours open a week
800
square feet
8,948
books & media
With a card

Ask at the desk about getting a card.

New in Yellowhead Township? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.47 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Yellowhead Township cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
2
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$408
a year at retail prices · $34 a month

Who pays for it
$28 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $37K.

Local taxes 79%State 16%Gifts & other 5%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $54K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $37K 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 167 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Yellowhead TownshipGrant Park Public Library2.425B−
Momence TownshipEdward Chipman Public Library—48— graded with its twin city
Washington TownshipBeecher Public Library District—46C+
Sumner TownshipNone 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).

How to read these numbers

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 Yellowhead Township

Does Yellowhead Township have a public library?

Yes. Grant Park Public Library, 107 West Taylor Street, serves 1,294 people in and around Yellowhead Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Grant Park Public Library fine-free?

It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Yellowhead Township’s library?

It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Yellowhead Township’s civic life grade?

B− Yellowhead Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #353 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 Yellowhead Township.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.