Photo: AllenS · Public domainHillsboro’s library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Hillsboro Community Library serves 140 people in and around Hillsboro. Last year it lent 938 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,127 visits.
What Hillsboro’s library is like
More library cards than residents
399 cards for 140 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
100% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Hillsboro Community Library spends $30 per resident, less than 81% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 79% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
The Hillsboro branch keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hillsboro Community Library offered 1 programs last year, 7.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
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; Hillsboro Community Library serves 140 people in and around Hillsboro, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Hillsboro’s civic life grade
Hillsboro 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hillsboro Community Library serves 140 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, for the whole Hillsboro Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
938 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
1 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Hillsboro Community Library, 158 Elenora Street, Hillsboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hillsboro Community Library branch.
New in Hillsboro? 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 $4.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hillsboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $4,211.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4,211 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 399 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hillsboro Community Library serves 140 people in and around Hillsboro, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hillsboro.
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 Hillsboro
Does Hillsboro have a public library?
Yes. Hillsboro Community Library, 158 Elenora Street, serves 140 people in and around Hillsboro (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hillsboro Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hillsboro’s library?
It logged 8.1 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hillsboro’s civic life grade?
Hillsboro 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 Hillsboro.
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.