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Norris City Memorial Public Library District

Norris City’s library runs 5.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size

Norris City Memorial Public Library District serves 4,454 people in and around Norris City. Last year it lent 16K print books and media and logged 11K visits.

603 South Division Street, Norris City 62869 · about 36 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 68% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (618) 378-3713 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
16K
3.5 per resident
Visits a year
11K
2.6 per resident · Below typical (3)
Programs & events
25
about 1 a week · 660 attended
Cardholders
11%
482 cards
Open
36 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Norris City’s library is like

Below typical on every measure

Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Norris City Memorial Public Library District sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓

Few programs for a library this size

Norris City Memorial Public Library District offered 25 programs last year, 5.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓

Few residents carry a card

Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% 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; Norris City Memorial Public Library District serves 4,454 people in and around Norris City, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Norris City’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Norris City is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. Norris City is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Norris City’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Norris City’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureCCommunity nonprofits3.0 per 1,000 residents · IL towns 3.4 · U.S. 3.7AVolunteering12.3% of adults 25–44 · IL towns 8.1% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 68%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $32K–$53K (2,634)Ahead of 72%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Norris City is small (1,083 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

5 community nonprofits are registered in Norris City

3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation00.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans00.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education21.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17

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.

Volunteering

12.3%

12.3% of Norris City’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 Norris City’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.6 visits · typical 3Lower than 58%
Borrowing per resident 3.5 print items · typical 3.8Lower than 54%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 83%
Programs offered 5.6 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Bottom 10%
Cardholders 11% of residents · typical 42%Bottom 10%
Spending $25 per resident · typical $43Lower than 77%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Norris City Memorial Public Library District serves 4,454 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Norris City Memorial Public Library District system. The library’s own count.

11K
visits
2.6 per resident
16K
loans, print + digital
3.5 per resident
25
programs & events
660 attended
482
library cards
11% of people served
Every open hour8items borrowed
Every week13people at a program
Every day4Wi-Fi sessions
2 staff (full-time equivalent)6 public computers
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

16K 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 Norris City’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

Kids & programs

25 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Norris City →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–56
Ages 6–117
Teens3
Adults4
All ages5
Little ones
0.1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

660
people at programs
25
programs
The building

Find it

Norris City Memorial Public Library District, 603 South Division Street, Norris City.

Directions(618) 378-3713
36
hours open a week
4,275
square feet
With a card

Good at every Norris City Memorial Public Library District branch.

New in Norris City? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.47 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Norris City cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
3
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$612
a year at retail prices · $51 a month

Who pays for it
$25 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $112K.

Local taxes 93%State 5%Federal 1%Gifts & other 1%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $277K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $112K 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 482 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

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. Norris City Memorial Public Library District serves 4,454 people in and around Norris City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Norris City.

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 Norris City

Does Norris City have a public library?

Yes. Norris City Memorial Public Library District, 603 South Division Street, serves 4,454 people in and around Norris City (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Norris City Memorial Public Library District fine-free?

It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Norris City’s library?

It logged 2.6 visits and lent 3.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Norris City’s civic life grade?

B+ Norris City is ahead of 68% 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 Norris City.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.