Photo: Adam Moss from Macomb, IL, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Mount Sterling’s library runs 68 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Brown County Public Library District serves 6,238 people in and around Mount Sterling. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.
Mount Sterling’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
82% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 16%. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Brown County Public Library District serves 6,238 people in and around Mount Sterling, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mount Sterling’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Sterling is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. Mount Sterling 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Sterling
5.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.5%
12.5% of Mount Sterling’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 Sterling’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Brown County Public Library District serves 6,238 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brown County Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
About 3 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
Brown County Public Library District, 143 West Main Street, Mount Sterling.
No late fees. Good at every Brown County Public Library District branch.
New in Mount Sterling? 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 $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Sterling cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $228K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $528K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $228K 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 1,350 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Brown County Public Library District serves 6,238 people in and around Mount Sterling, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Sterling.
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 Sterling
Does Mount Sterling have a public library?
Yes. Brown County Public Library District, 143 West Main Street, serves 6,238 people in and around Mount Sterling (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brown County Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mount Sterling’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mount Sterling’s civic life grade?
A Mount Sterling is ahead of 94% 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 Sterling.
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.