Lewellen State Aid Bridge · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainLewellen’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Lewellen Public Library serves Lewellen’s 167 residents. Last year it lent 147 books, movies and e-books and logged 120 visits.
What Lewellen’s library is like
Lewellen Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lewellen Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lewellen Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Lewellen Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Lewellen Public Library serves 167 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 10% of the people Lewellen Public 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 Lewellen’s civic life grade
Lewellen 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lewellen Public Library serves 167 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Lewellen Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
147 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 2,618 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Find it
Lewellen Public Library, 208 Main Street, Lewellen.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lewellen? 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 Lewellen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $11K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2,389 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11K 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 16 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lewellen Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Lewellen
Does Lewellen have a public library?
Yes. Lewellen Public Library, 208 Main Street, serves Lewellen’s 167 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lewellen Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lewellen’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lewellen’s civic life grade?
Lewellen 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 Lewellen.
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.