Malta’s library logs 3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Malta Township Public Library serves 1,557 people in and around Malta. Last year it lent 5,584 print books and media and logged 4,620 visits.
What Malta’s library is like
A small-town library
Malta Township Public Library serves 1,557 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 24 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 21% of the people Malta Township Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 99 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Malta invests in its library
Malta Township Public Library spends $111 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Malta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Malta is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. Malta is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Malta
5.5 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.1%
10.1% of Malta’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 Malta’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Malta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $173K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $102K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $173K 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 324 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Malta Township Public Library serves 1,557 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
5,584 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 Malta’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Malta Township Public Library, 203 East Adams Street, Malta.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 Malta
Does Malta have a public library?
Yes. Malta Township Public Library, 203 East Adams Street, serves 1,557 people in and around Malta (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Malta Township Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Malta’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Malta’s civic life grade?
A Malta is ahead of 88% 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 Malta.
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.