Photo: David Wilson · CC BY 2.0Mineral’s library runs 12 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Mineral-Gold Public Library District serves 578 people in and around Mineral. Last year it lent 1,913 print books and media and logged 1,139 visits.
What Mineral’s library is like
Well funded, but lightly used
Mineral-Gold Public Library District spends $93 per resident, more than 80% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 76% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Mineral-Gold Public Library District serves 578 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Mineral has a card
530 cards for 578 people, or 92%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mineral-Gold Public Library District offered 7 programs last year, 12 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Mineral-Gold Public Library District serves more than Mineral
The library’s service area covers 578 people in and around Mineral, 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 Mineral’s civic life grade
Mineral 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mineral-Gold Public Library District serves 578 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
1,913 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 Mineral’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
7 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Mineral-Gold Public Library District, 120 East Main Street, Mineral.
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 Mineral cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $33K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 530 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 Mineral
Does Mineral have a public library?
Yes. Mineral-Gold Public Library District, 120 East Main Street, serves 578 people in and around Mineral (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mineral-Gold Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mineral’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 3.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mineral’s civic life grade?
Mineral 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 Mineral.
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.