Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBarry’s library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Barry Public Library serves Barry’s 1,303 residents. Last year it lent 7,468 print books and media and logged 4,344 visits.
What stands out about Barry’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Barry’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Barry is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Barry’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Barry
3.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
21.2%
21.2% of Barry’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 Barry’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Barry Public Library serves 1,303 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
7,468 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 Barry’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
71 programs a year
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.
Find it
Barry Public Library, 880 Bainbridge Street, Barry.
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 $2.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Barry cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $63K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $136K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $63K 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 438 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Barry Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’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 Barry
Does Barry have a public library?
Yes. Barry Public Library, 880 Bainbridge Street, serves Barry’s 1,303 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Barry Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Barry’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 5.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Barry’s civic life grade?
B+ Barry is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Barry.
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.