Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMcLeansboro’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mccoy Memorial Library serves McLeansboro’s 2,675 residents. Last year it lent 4,301 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,900 visits.
What McLeansboro’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Mccoy Memorial Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mccoy Memorial Library offered 16 programs last year, 6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mccoy Memorial Library spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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.
What’s behind McLeansboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, McLeansboro is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #249 of 754 in Illinois. McLeansboro’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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in McLeansboro
10.1 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.4%
8.4% of McLeansboro’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 McLeansboro’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mccoy Memorial Library serves 2,675 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,301 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 10K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
16 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in McLeansboro last year.
Find it
Mccoy Memorial Library, 130 South Washington Street, Mcleansboro.
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 $1.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average McLeansboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $40K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $71K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $40K 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 185 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Mccoy Memorial 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 McLeansboro
Does McLeansboro have a public library?
Yes. Mccoy Memorial Library, 130 South Washington Street, serves McLeansboro’s 2,675 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mccoy Memorial Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is McLeansboro’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is McLeansboro’s civic life grade?
B McLeansboro is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #249 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 McLeansboro.
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.