Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0Royal Center’s library runs 243 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library serves 1,405 people in and around Royal Center. Last year it lent 3,689 print books and media and logged 2,322 visits.
What stands out about Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Royal Center’s civic life grade
Royal Center 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 →
About 3 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library serves 1,405 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, for the whole Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3,689 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library, 203 North Chicago Street, Royal Center.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library branch.
New in Royal Center? The Handbook →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 Royal Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $123K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $87K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $123K 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 374 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library serves 1,405 people in and around Royal Center, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Royal Center.
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 Royal Center
Does Royal Center have a public library?
Yes. Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library, 203 North Chicago Street, serves 1,405 people in and around Royal Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Royal Center-Boone Township Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Royal Center’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Royal Center’s civic life grade?
Royal Center 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 Royal Center.
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.