Photo: ProfDEH · Public domainMetamora’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Illinois Prairie District Public Library serves 21,904 people in and around Metamora. Last year it lent 94K print books and media and logged 67K visits.
What stands out about Illinois Prairie District Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Metamora’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Metamora is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #164 of 754 in Illinois. Metamora is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Metamora
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Metamora’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 Metamora’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Illinois Prairie District Public Library serves 21,904 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Illinois Prairie District Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
94K 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 Metamora’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 9 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Illinois Prairie District Public Library, 208 East Partridge Street, Metamora.
No late fees. Good at every Illinois Prairie District Public Library branch.
New in Metamora? The Handbook →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 $1.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Metamora cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 6,565 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.
- System-wide. Illinois Prairie District Public Library serves 21,904 people in and around Metamora, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Metamora.
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 Metamora
Does Metamora have a public library?
Yes. Illinois Prairie District Public Library, 208 East Partridge Street, serves 21,904 people in and around Metamora (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Illinois Prairie District Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Metamora’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 4.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Metamora’s civic life grade?
B+ Metamora is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #164 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 Metamora.
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.