Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Flat Rock’s library logs 2.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Robinson Public Library District serves 14,676 people in and around Flat Rock. Last year it lent 43K print books and media and logged 33K visits.
What Flat Rock’s library is like
Open only about 13 hours a week
Robinson Public Library District keeps short hours: about 13 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Robinson Public Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Robinson Public Library District serves more than Flat Rock
The library’s service area covers 14,676 people in and around Flat Rock, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Robinson Public Library District holds 81,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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 Flat Rock’s civic life grade
Flat Rock isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Robinson Public Library District serves 14,676 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
43K 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 Flat Rock’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 81K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 4 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
Susie Wesley Memorial Branch Library, 104 South Central Ave, Flat Rock.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Flat Rock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $890K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $839K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $890K 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 2,030 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 Flat Rock
Does Flat Rock have a public library?
Yes. Robinson Public Library District, 104 South Central Ave, serves 14,676 people in and around Flat Rock (the survey’s count) and is open about 13 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Robinson Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Flat Rock’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Flat Rock’s civic life grade?
Flat Rock isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Flat Rock.
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.