Photo: Art davis · CC BY-SA 4.0Argonia’s library runs 147 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Dixon Township Library serves 599 people in and around Argonia. Last year it lent 904 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,048 visits.
The short version on Argonia’s library
Dixon Township Library is used less than most libraries its size
Dixon Township Library records 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1 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 17 hours a week
Dixon Township Library keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Dixon Township Library serves 599 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Argonia has a card
540 cards for 599 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Dixon Township Library holds 20,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Argonia’s civic life grade
Argonia 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dixon Township Library serves 599 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
904 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
303 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
88 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.
Find it
Dixon Township Library, 120 W Walnut, Argonia.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Argonia? 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 $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Argonia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $15K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15K 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 540 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Argonia
Does Argonia have a public library?
Yes. Dixon Township Library, 120 W Walnut, serves 599 people in and around Argonia (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dixon Township 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 Argonia’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Argonia’s civic life grade?
Argonia 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 Argonia.
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.