Photo: Tyler Warren · CC BY 2.0Bethalto’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Bethalto Public Library District serves 15,339 people in and around Bethalto. Last year it lent 60K print books and media and logged 27K visits.
Bethalto’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 61%. What your card is worth ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Bethalto Public Library District charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 324 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.7 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; Bethalto Public Library District serves 15,339 people in and around Bethalto, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bethalto’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bethalto is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #410 of 754 in Illinois. Bethalto is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bethalto’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$81K) 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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Bethalto
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Bethalto’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 Bethalto’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bethalto Public Library District serves 15,339 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bethalto Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
60K 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 Bethalto’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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.
Find it
Bethalto Public Library District, 321 South Prairie Street, Bethalto.
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 $2.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bethalto cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $488K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $488K 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 2,617 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood River Township | Roxana Public Library District fine-free | 9.7 | 55 | C |
| Wood River | Wood River Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 55 | C+ |
| Bethalto | Bethalto Public Library District | — | 47 | C+ |
| Fort Russell Township | Bethalto Public Library District | — | 47 | C |
| Rosewood Heights | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Foster Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Moro | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Moro Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Bethalto Public Library District serves 15,339 people in and around Bethalto, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bethalto.
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 Bethalto
Does Bethalto have a public library?
Yes. Bethalto Public Library District, 321 South Prairie Street, serves 15,339 people in and around Bethalto (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bethalto Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bethalto’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bethalto’s civic life grade?
C+ Bethalto is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #410 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 Bethalto.
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.