Photo: Omnedon · CC BY-SA 4.0Homer’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Homer Community Library serves Homer’s 1,073 residents. Last year it lent 12K print books and media and logged 8,965 visits.
The short version on Homer’s library
Busy on a lean budget
Homer Community Library spends $37 per resident, less than 72% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 87% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Homer uses its library more than almost any town its size
Homer Community Library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Homer Community Library serves 1,073 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 29 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
31% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 64%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
75% of the 87 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 16 were for children. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Homer’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Homer is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. Homer’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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Homer
10.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.4%
7.4% of Homer’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 Homer’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
12K 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 Homer’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Homer Community Library serves 1,073 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
87 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Homer Community Library, 500 East Second Street, Homer.
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 $5.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Homer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $40K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $223K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $40K 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 636 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 Homer
Does Homer have a public library?
Yes. Homer Community Library, 500 East Second Street, serves Homer’s 1,073 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Homer Community Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Homer’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 10.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Homer’s civic life grade?
A Homer is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Homer.
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.