Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0Fulton’s library lends 6.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Schmaling Memorial Public Library District serves Fulton’s 3,647 residents. Last year it lent 25K print books and media and logged 11K visits.
What Fulton’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
98% of the 127 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people Schmaling Memorial Public Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Fulton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fulton is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #319 of 754 in Illinois. Fulton’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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Fulton
7.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Fulton’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 Fulton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Schmaling Memorial Public Library District serves 3,647 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
25K 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 Fulton’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 27K 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
Schmaling Memorial Public Library District, 501 Tenth Avenue, Fulton.
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 $3.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fulton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $145K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $442K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $145K 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 673 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fulton borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fulton | Schmaling Memorial Public Library District | 6.9 | 37 | B− |
| Fulton Township | Schmaling Memorial Public Library District | 6.9 | 37 | B− |
| Clinton | Clinton Public Library fine-free | 1.6 | 50 | C |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Schmaling Memorial Public Library District counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Fulton
Does Fulton have a public library?
Yes. Schmaling Memorial Public Library District, 501 Tenth Avenue, serves Fulton’s 3,647 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Schmaling Memorial Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fulton’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 6.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fulton’s civic life grade?
B− Fulton is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #319 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 Fulton.
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.