Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMattoon’s library runs 16 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Mattoon Public Library serves Mattoon’s 16,870 residents. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 43K visits.
Mattoon’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Mattoon Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people Mattoon Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Illinois pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 67% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Mattoon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mattoon is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #334 of 754 in Illinois. Mattoon’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
76 community nonprofits are registered in Mattoon
4.6 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Mattoon’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 Mattoon’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mattoon Public Library serves 16,870 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 56K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
About 3 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Mattoon last year.
Find it
Mattoon Public Library, 1600 Charleston Avenue, Mattoon.
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 $1.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mattoon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $702K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $765K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $702K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 3,172 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mattoon ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | Charleston Carnegie Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 48 | B− |
| Mattoon | Mattoon Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 44 | B− |
| Mattoon Township | Mattoon Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 44 | — graded with its twin city |
| Lafayette Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Humboldt Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Mattoon 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 Mattoon
Does Mattoon have a public library?
Yes. Mattoon Public Library, 1600 Charleston Avenue, serves Mattoon’s 16,870 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mattoon Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mattoon’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mattoon’s civic life grade?
B− Mattoon is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #334 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 Mattoon.
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.