Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Glen Carbon’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Glen Carbon Centennial Library District serves Glen Carbon’s 13,865 residents. Last year it lent 100K print books and media and logged 57K visits.
What stands out about Glen Carbon’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Glen Carbon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Glen Carbon is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #204 of 754 in Illinois. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Glen Carbon’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Glen Carbon
3.2 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of Glen Carbon’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 Glen Carbon’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
100K 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 Glen Carbon’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Glen Carbon Centennial Library District serves 13,865 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 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
Glen Carbon Centennial Library, 198 South Main Street, Glen Carbon.
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 $2.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glen Carbon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $782K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $782K 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 4,853 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Glen Carbon borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Carbon | Glen Carbon Centennial Library fine-free | 7.2 | 63 | B+ |
| Edwardsville | Edwardsville Public Library | 7.2 | 63 | A− |
| Edwardsville Township | Edwardsville Public Library | 7.2 | 63 | A |
| Maryville | Maryville Community Library District fine-free | 2.8 | 56 | B |
| Collinsville Township | Collinsville Memorial Library Center fine-free | 2.7 | 60 | B− |
| Pontoon Beach | 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.
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 Glen Carbon
Does Glen Carbon have a public library?
Yes. Glen Carbon Centennial Library District, 198 South Main Street, serves Glen Carbon’s 13,865 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glen Carbon Centennial Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Glen Carbon’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 7.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Glen Carbon’s civic life grade?
B+ Glen Carbon is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #204 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 Glen Carbon.
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.