Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCarmi’s library lends 5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Carmi Public Library serves Carmi’s 4,865 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What Carmi’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Carmi Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
71% of the 110 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 18 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Carmi’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Carmi is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #99 of 754 in Illinois. Carmi’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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Carmi
8.9 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.7%
10.7% of Carmi’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 Carmi’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Carmi Public Library serves 4,865 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
110 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 Carmi last year.
Find it
Carmi Public Library, 103 Slocumb Street, Carmi.
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 $2.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carmi cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $157K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $388K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $157K 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 784 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 Carmi
Does Carmi have a public library?
Yes. Carmi Public Library, 103 Slocumb Street, serves Carmi’s 4,865 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carmi Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Carmi’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Carmi’s civic life grade?
A− Carmi is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #99 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 Carmi.
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.