Photo: Bradley Furlow · CC BY-SA 4.0Carbondale’s library logs 5.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Carbondale Public Library serves Carbondale’s 21,857 residents. Last year it lent 79K print books and media and logged 129K visits.
Carbondale’s library, in brief
Open about 64 hours a week
Carbondale Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 389 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 80 were for children. 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.
What’s behind Carbondale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Carbondale is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #142 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
114 community nonprofits are registered in Carbondale
5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (33 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Carbondale’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 Carbondale’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carbondale Public Library serves 21,857 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Books and media off the shelf
79K 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 Carbondale’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 84K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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
Carbondale Public Library, 405 West Main Street, Carbondale.
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 $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carbondale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 4,461 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Carbondale ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murphysboro Township | Sallie Logan Public Library | 5.9 | 52 | B− |
| Carbondale | Carbondale Public Library | 3.6 | 64 | A− |
| Carbondale Township | Carbondale Public Library | 3.6 | 64 | — graded with its twin city |
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.
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 Carbondale
Does Carbondale have a public library?
Yes. Carbondale Public Library, 405 West Main Street, serves Carbondale’s 21,857 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carbondale Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Carbondale’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Carbondale’s civic life grade?
A− Carbondale is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #142 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 Carbondale.
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.