Photo: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA · CC BY 2.0McCook’s library lends 27 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mccook Public Library District serves McCook’s 247 residents. Last year it lent 6,647 print books and media and logged 295 visits.
McCook’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
285 cards for 247 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 89%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
McCook out-borrows every town next door
At 27 loans per resident, McCook leads the four towns here. The closest is Hodgkins, at 7.2. Libraries next door ↓
McCook invests in its library
Mccook Public Library District spends $1,551 per resident a year, about 29 times the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Mccook Public Library District logs about 3 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 4.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 McCook’s civic life grade
McCook isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Books and media off the shelf
6,647 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 McCook’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mccook Public Library District serves 247 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
18 programs a year
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
Mccook Public Library District, 8419 West 50th Street, Mccook.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average McCook cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $383K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $117K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $383K 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 285 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
McCook borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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. Mccook Public Library District counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 McCook
Does McCook have a public library?
Yes. Mccook Public Library District, 8419 West 50th Street, serves McCook’s 247 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mccook Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is McCook’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 26.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is McCook’s civic life grade?
McCook isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in McCook.
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.