Mount Zion’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mount Zion District Library serves 12,467 people in and around Mount Zion. Last year it lent 77K print books and media and logged 45K visits.
What stands out about Mount Zion Public Library District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Mount Zion’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Zion is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #309 of 754 in Illinois. Mount Zion is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Mount Zion’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Zion
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
9.4%
9.4% of Mount Zion’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 Zion’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mount Zion District Library serves 12,467 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mount Zion District Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
77K 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 Zion’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
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
Mount Zion Public Library District, 115 West Main Street, Mount Zion.
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 $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Zion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $665K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $665K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 2,827 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decatur | Decatur Public Library fine-free | 3.1 | 59 | C− |
| Mount Zion | Mount Zion Public Library District | — | 55 | B− |
| Long Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| South Wheatland Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Long Creek | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Mount Zion District Library serves 12,467 people in and around Mount Zion, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Zion.
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 Zion
Does Mount Zion have a public library?
Yes. Mount Zion District Library, 115 West Main Street, serves 12,467 people in and around Mount Zion (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mount Zion District Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mount Zion’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 6.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mount Zion’s civic life grade?
B− Mount Zion is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #309 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 Zion.
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.