Photo: Praiawart · CC BY 4.0Plainfield’s library lends 5.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Plainfield Public Library serves Plainfield’s 3,090 residents. Last year it lent 18K print books and media and logged 11K visits.
What stands out about Plainfield’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Plainfield’s civic life grade
Plainfield 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 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Plainfield Public Library serves 3,090 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
18K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Plainfield last year.
Find it
Plainfield Public Library, 126 S. Main St., Plainfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Plainfield? 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 $2.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plainfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $278K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 662 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfield | Plainfield Public Library fine-free | 5.8 | 35 | — graded with its twin city |
| Oasis | None 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).
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.
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 Plainfield
Does Plainfield have a public library?
Yes. Plainfield Public Library, 126 S. Main St., serves Plainfield’s 3,090 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plainfield Public 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 Plainfield’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 5.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Plainfield’s civic life grade?
Plainfield 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 Plainfield.
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.