Ed. M. Stotlar House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMarion’s library logs 6.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Marion Carnegie Library serves Marion’s 16,855 residents. Last year it lent 67K print books and media and logged 111K visits.
What Marion’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people Marion Carnegie Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
People come to Marion Carnegie Library a lot
Marion Carnegie Library logs 6.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4 print items per resident. 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.
What’s behind Marion’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Marion is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #155 of 754 in Illinois. Marion’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 →
114 community nonprofits are registered in Marion
6.8 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 (50 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.
6.1%
6.1% of Marion’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 Marion’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Marion Carnegie Library serves 16,855 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Books and media off the shelf
67K 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 Marion’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 104K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
About 7 kids’ programs 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
Marion Carnegie Library, 206 South Market Street, Marion.
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 $1.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $929K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $929K 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 3,285 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 Marion
Does Marion have a public library?
Yes. Marion Carnegie Library, 206 South Market Street, serves Marion’s 16,855 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marion Carnegie Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Marion’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 4.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Marion’s civic life grade?
B+ Marion is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #155 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 Marion.
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.