Photo: Znns · CC BY-SA 4.0Mounds’ library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Mounds Public Library serves Mounds’s 661 residents. Last year it logged 348 visits.
The short version on Mounds’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Mounds Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60.
A small-town library
Mounds Public Library serves 661 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 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 ↓
Illinois pays a big share
23% of the budget comes from the state, and 55% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mounds Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Mounds’ civic life grade
Mounds 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 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mounds Public Library serves 661 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Mounds Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Find it
Mounds Public Library, 418 First Street, Mounds.
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 Mounds cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $9,081.
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 380 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Mounds
Does Mounds have a public library?
Yes. Mounds Public Library, 418 First Street, serves Mounds’ 661 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mounds Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mounds’ library?
It logged 0.5 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mounds’ civic life grade?
Mounds 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 Mounds.
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.