Photo: User:Ceemo · CC BY-SA 3.0Peoria’s library lends 5.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Peoria Public Library System serves Peoria’s 203,065 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 1M print books and media and logged 370K visits.
What Peoria’s library is like
Nearly everyone in Peoria has a card
196,512 cards for 203,065 people, or 97%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 230,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.5 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 1,454 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.7 a week for ages 0–5. 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.
What’s behind Peoria’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Peoria is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #54 of 68 in Arizona. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #304. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Peoria’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($72K–$120K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
466 community nonprofits are registered in Peoria
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (141 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 29 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Peoria’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.0% in the typical Arizona town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Peoria’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Peoria Public Library System serves 203,065 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 198 items go 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 230K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.5 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 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 Peoria last year.
2 places to borrow in Peoria
Peoria Public Library System, 8463 W Monroe St., Peoria.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Peoria? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Peoria
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Peoria cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.6M 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 196,512 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Peoria ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- 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 Peoria
Does Peoria have a public library?
Yes. Peoria Public Library System, 8463 W Monroe St., serves Peoria’s 203,065 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peoria Public Library System 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 Peoria’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 5.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Peoria’s civic life grade?
D Peoria is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 of 68 in Arizona. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Peoria.
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.