Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Mount Vernon’s library runs 4.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District serves 36,213 people in and around Mount Vernon. Last year it lent 80K print books and media and logged 52K visits.
What Mount Vernon’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District offered 168 programs last year, 4.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
31% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 63%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. 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; C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District serves 36,213 people in and around Mount Vernon, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mount Vernon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Vernon is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #240 of 754 in Illinois. Mount Vernon is graded on two of the three inputs. Mount Vernon’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
89 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Vernon
6.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (39 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Mount Vernon’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 Vernon’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District serves 36,213 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
80K 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 Vernon’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 2 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
C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District, 101 South Seventh Street, Mount Vernon.
No late fees. Good at every C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District branch.
New in Mount Vernon? 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 $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Vernon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 4,312 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 Vernon | C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District fine-free | — | 62 | B |
| Mount Vernon Township | C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District fine-free | — | 62 | — graded with its twin city |
| Dodds Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- System-wide. C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District serves 36,213 people in and around Mount Vernon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Vernon.
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 Vernon
Does Mount Vernon have a public library?
Yes. C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District, 101 South Seventh Street, serves 36,213 people in and around Mount Vernon (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mount Vernon’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Mount Vernon’s civic life grade?
B Mount Vernon is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #240 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 Mount Vernon.
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.