Photo: Dual Freq · CC BY 2.5Melvin’s library runs 22 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Melvin Public Library serves 551 people in and around Melvin. Last year it lent 1,531 print books and media and logged 1,642 visits.
What Melvin’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Melvin Public Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Melvin Public Library serves 551 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Melvin Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Melvin Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Melvin Public Library serves more than Melvin
The library’s service area covers 551 people in and around Melvin, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Melvin’s civic life grade
Melvin 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Melvin Public Library serves 551 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,531 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 Melvin’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 6,557 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
12 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Melvin Public Library, 102 South Center Street, Melvin.
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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Melvin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $20K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $20K 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 90 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 Melvin
Does Melvin have a public library?
Yes. Melvin Public Library, 102 South Center Street, serves 551 people in and around Melvin (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Melvin Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Melvin’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 2.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Melvin’s civic life grade?
Melvin 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 Melvin.
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.