Photo: ProfDEH · CC BY-SA 3.0Lacon’s library lends 5.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lacon Public Library District serves Lacon’s 1,878 residents. Last year it lent 10K print books and media and logged 5,169 visits.
Lacon’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Lacon Public Library District serves 1,878 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lacon Public Library District offered 12 programs last year, 6.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Lacon Public Library District keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Lacon Public Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 54% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Lacon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lacon is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. Lacon’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$79K) 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 Lacon
4.7 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.7%
6.7% of Lacon’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 Lacon’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lacon Public Library District serves 1,878 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
10K 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 Lacon’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
12 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Lacon Public Library District, 205 Sixth Street, Lacon.
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 $2.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lacon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $67K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $182K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $67K 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 284 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 Lacon
Does Lacon have a public library?
Yes. Lacon Public Library District, 205 Sixth Street, serves Lacon’s 1,878 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lacon Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lacon’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 5.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lacon’s civic life grade?
C+ Lacon is ahead of 44% 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 Lacon.
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.