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Astor County Library · part of Lake County Library System

Astor’s library is a branch of Lake County Library System, which lends more per resident than 51% of systems its size

Astor’s library is the Astor County Library, a branch of Lake County Library System, which serves 432,796 people and lent 1.4M items last year.

54905 Alco Road, Astor 32102 · about 44 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: unincorporated places have too few inputs
Borrowed a year
1.4M
3.2 per resident
Visits a year
1.1M
2.5 per resident · Above typical (2.1)
Programs & events
7,186
about 138 a week · 128K attended
Cardholders
31%
136,282 cards
Open
44 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Astor County Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Astor’s civic life grade

Astor isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Lake County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Astor’s overall grade.

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 →

Places to belong

Volunteering in Astor

Astor is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.

Volunteering

5.6%

5.6% of Astor’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Astor’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.5 visits · typical 2.1Higher than 63%
Borrowing per resident 3.2 print items · typical 3.2Higher than 51%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 69%
Programs offered 16.6 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Higher than 83%
Cardholders 31% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 70%
Spending $25 per resident · typical $36Lower than 69%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Lake County Library System serves 432,796 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lake County Library System system. The library’s own count.

1.1M
visits
2.5 per resident
1.4M
loans, print + digital
3.2 per resident
7,186
programs & events
128K attended
136K
library cards
31% of people served
Every open hour36items borrowed
Every week2,466people at a program
Every day601Wi-Fi sessions
140 staff (full-time equivalent)286 public computers
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

1.4M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

The survey has no count of children’s loans for Astor’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

Kids & programs

About 50 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Astor →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–51,660
Ages 6–11946
Teens384
Adults3,135
All ages1,061
Little ones
31.9

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

128K
people at programs
7,186
programs
The building

Find it

Astor County Library, 54905 Alco Road, Astor.

44
hours open a week
4,200
square feet
With a card

Good at every Lake County Library System branch.

New in Astor? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.39 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Astor cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$25 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.

Local taxes 95%State 1%Federal 0%Gifts & other 3%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 136,282 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

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.
  • System-wide. Astor County Library is one branch of Lake County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 432,796 people it serves.

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 Astor

Does Astor have a public library?

Yes: Astor County Library, 54905 Alco Road, is a branch of Lake County Library System, which serves 432,796 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Lake County Library System fine-free?

It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Astor’s library?

It logged 2.5 visits and lent 3.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Astor’s civic life grade?

Astor isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Lake County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Astor.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.