Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Centralia’s library runs 6.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Centralia Regional Library District serves 25,678 people in and around Centralia. Last year it lent 36K print books and media and logged 52K visits.
The short version on Centralia’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Centralia Regional Library District sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Centralia Regional Library District offered 156 programs last year, 6.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. 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; Centralia Regional Library District serves 25,678 people in and around Centralia, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Centralia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Centralia is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #369 of 754 in Illinois. Centralia is graded on two of the three inputs. Centralia’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
60 community nonprofits are registered in Centralia
5.1 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 (23 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.8%
5.8% of Centralia’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 Centralia’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Centralia Regional Library District serves 25,678 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Centralia Regional Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
36K 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 Centralia’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Centralia Regional Library District, 515 East Broadway Avenue, Centralia.
No late fees. Good at every Centralia Regional Library District branch.
New in Centralia? The Handbook →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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Centralia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $583K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $697K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $583K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 3,488 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralia | Centralia Regional Library District fine-free | — | 49 | C+ |
| Centralia Township | Centralia Regional Library District fine-free | — | 49 | — graded with its twin city |
| Wamac | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Central City | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Brookside Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- System-wide. Centralia Regional Library District serves 25,678 people in and around Centralia, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Centralia.
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 Centralia
Does Centralia have a public library?
Yes. Centralia Regional Library District, 515 East Broadway Avenue, serves 25,678 people in and around Centralia (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Centralia Regional Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Centralia’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 1.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Centralia’s civic life grade?
C+ Centralia is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #369 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 Centralia.
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.