Photo: Catching12 · CC BY 3.0Granite City’s library lends 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Six Mile Regional Library District serves 39,697 people in and around Granite City from 2 locations. Last year it lent 58K print books and media and logged 63K visits.
What Granite City’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Six Mile 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 13% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% 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; Six Mile Regional Library District serves 39,697 people in and around Granite City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Granite City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Granite City is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #648 of 754 in Illinois. Granite City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$74K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
51 community nonprofits are registered in Granite City
1.9 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 (38 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Granite City’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 Granite City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Six Mile Regional Library District serves 39,697 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Six Mile Regional Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
58K 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 Granite City’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 5 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.
2 places to borrow in Granite City
Six Mile Regional Library District, 2001 Delmar Avenue, Granite City.
No late fees. Good at every Six Mile Regional Library District branch.
New in Granite City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Six Mile Regional Library District branches in Granite City
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Granite City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 5,306 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford | Hartford Public Library District | 4.1 | 47 | C− |
| Madison | Madison Public Library | 0.4 | 34 | D |
| Venice Township | Madison Public Library | 0.4 | 34 | D− |
| Granite City | Six Mile Regional Library District fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Granite City Township | Six Mile Regional Library District fine-free | — | 51 | — graded with its twin city |
| Nameoki Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Pontoon Beach | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Chouteau 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. Six Mile Regional Library District serves 39,697 people in and around Granite City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Granite City.
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 Granite City
Does Granite City have a public library?
Yes. Six Mile Regional Library District, 2001 Delmar Avenue, serves 39,697 people in and around Granite City (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Six Mile Regional Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Granite City’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Granite City’s civic life grade?
D Granite City is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #648 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 Granite City.
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.