Photo: PeteBobb · CC BY-SA 3.0Mount Carroll’s library runs 56 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Mount Carroll District Library serves 2,582 people in and around Mount Carroll. Last year it lent 9,394 print books and media and logged 5,546 visits.
What stands out about Mount Carroll’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Mount Carroll’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Carroll is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. Mount Carroll is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mount Carroll’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Carroll
10.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.0%
11.0% of Mount Carroll’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 Mount Carroll’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mount Carroll District Library serves 2,582 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
9,394 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 Mount Carroll’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Mount Carroll District Library, 208 North Main Street, Mount Carroll.
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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Carroll cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $146K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $176K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $146K 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 840 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Carroll | Mount Carroll District Library fine-free | 3.6 | 48 | A+ |
| Mount Carroll Township | Mount Carroll District Library fine-free | 3.6 | 48 | A+ |
| Salem Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Freedom Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Woodland Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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 Mount Carroll
Does Mount Carroll have a public library?
Yes. Mount Carroll District Library, 208 North Main Street, serves 2,582 people in and around Mount Carroll (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mount Carroll District Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mount Carroll’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mount Carroll’s civic life grade?
A+ Mount Carroll is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Mount Carroll.
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.