Photo: Calvin Beale · Public domainCarlinville’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Carlinville Public Library serves Carlinville’s 5,710 residents. Last year it lent 30K print books and media and logged 22K visits.
What stands out about Carlinville’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Carlinville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Carlinville is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #76 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Carlinville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in Carlinville
11.1 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Carlinville’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 Carlinville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Carlinville Public Library serves 5,710 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
30K 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 Carlinville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 34K 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
Carlinville Public Library, 510 North Broad Street, Carlinville.
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 $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carlinville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $216K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $578K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $216K 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 1,128 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.
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 Carlinville
Does Carlinville have a public library?
Yes. Carlinville Public Library, 510 North Broad Street, serves Carlinville’s 5,710 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carlinville Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Carlinville’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 5.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Carlinville’s civic life grade?
A Carlinville is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 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 Carlinville.
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.