Photo: Daniel Schwen · CC BY-SA 4.0Arcola’s library runs 7.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Arcola Public Library District serves 5,589 people in and around Arcola. Last year it lent 14K print books and media and logged 7,029 visits.
What Arcola’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Arcola Public Library District sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Arcola Carnegie Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002. Today’s library there has 9,322 square feet. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Arcola Public Library District offered 41 programs last year, 7.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% 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; Arcola Public Library District serves 5,589 people in and around Arcola, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Arcola’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Arcola is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #527 of 754 in Illinois. Arcola is graded on two of the three inputs. Arcola’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($67K–$112K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Arcola
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.0%
3.0% of Arcola’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Arcola’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2002
Arcola Public Library District, 407 East Main Street, Arcola.
No late fees. Good at every Arcola Public Library District branch.
New in Arcola? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Arcola Carnegie Public Library
Arcola Carnegie Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 2002. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Illinois Carnegie Libraries MPS.
The Arcola Carnegie Public Library is a Carnegie library located at 407 E. Main St. in Arcola, Illinois. The library was built in 1905 through a $10,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation. Architect Paul O. Moratz designed the library in the Classical Revival style. The building's front entrance is situated within a Classical gabled portico supported by stone pilasters.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Arcola Public Library District serves 5,589 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Arcola Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
14K 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 Arcola’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
41 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arcola cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $163K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $242K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $163K 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 636 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Arcola Public Library District serves 5,589 people in and around Arcola, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Arcola.
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 Arcola
Does Arcola have a public library?
Yes. Arcola Public Library District, 407 East Main Street, serves 5,589 people in and around Arcola (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arcola Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Arcola’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Arcola’s civic life grade?
C Arcola is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #527 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Arcola.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.