Magnolia Manor · Photo: MuZemike · CC BY-SA 3.0Cairo’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Cairo Public Library serves Cairo’s 1,733 residents. Last year it lent 2,595 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,369 visits.
The short version on Cairo’s library
Cairo Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Cairo Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
47% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 34%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Cairo Public Library serves 1,733 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Cairo Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Cairo Public Library holds 56,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Cairo’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Cairo is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns. Cairo is graded on two of the three inputs. Cairo’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Cairo
11.3 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cairo Public Library serves 1,733 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,595 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 56K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
58 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Cairo last year.
Find it
Cairo Public Library, 1609 Washington Avenue, Cairo.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cairo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $97K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $44K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $97K 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 144 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Cairo
Does Cairo have a public library?
Yes. Cairo Public Library, 1609 Washington Avenue, serves Cairo’s 1,733 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cairo Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cairo’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cairo’s civic life grade?
B− Cairo is ahead of 50% 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 Cairo.
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.