Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCarthage’s library runs 120 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Carthage Public Library District serves 4,106 people in and around Carthage. Last year it lent 29K print books and media and logged 19K visits.
What stands out about Carthage Public Library District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Carthage’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Carthage is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Carthage is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Carthage near the top nationally; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Carthage
18.3 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
27.5%
27.5% of Carthage’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 Carthage’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Carthage Public Library District serves 4,106 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, for the whole Carthage Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
29K 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 Carthage’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Find it
Carthage Public Library District, 500 Wabash Avenue, Carthage.
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 $2.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carthage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $226K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $575K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $226K 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 1,413 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.
- System-wide. Carthage Public Library District serves 4,106 people in and around Carthage, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Carthage.
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 Carthage
Does Carthage have a public library?
Yes. Carthage Public Library District, 500 Wabash Avenue, serves 4,106 people in and around Carthage (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carthage Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Carthage’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 7.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Carthage’s civic life grade?
A+ Carthage is among the top 1% 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 Carthage.
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.