Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Johnston City’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Johnston City Public Library serves Johnston City’s 3,384 residents. Last year it lent 8,643 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,560 visits.
Johnston City’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Johnston City Public Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Johnston City Public Library offered 23 programs last year, 6.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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.
What’s behind Johnston City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Johnston City is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #634 of 754 in Illinois. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Johnston City Public Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$53K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Johnston City
2.6 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Johnston 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 Johnston City’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Johnston City Public Library serves 3,384 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,643 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,720 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
23 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Johnston City last year.
Find it
Johnston City Public Library, 506 Washington Avenue, Johnston City.
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 $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Johnston City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $140K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 239 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Johnston City Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Johnston City
Does Johnston City have a public library?
Yes. Johnston City Public Library, 506 Washington Avenue, serves Johnston City’s 3,384 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Johnston City Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Johnston City’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Johnston City’s civic life grade?
C− Johnston City is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #634 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 Johnston 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.