Photo: Robert Lawton · CC BY-SA 2.5O'Fallon’s library lends 7.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
O'Fallon Public Library serves O'Fallon’s 32,289 residents. Last year it lent 251K print books and media and logged 129K visits.
What O'Fallon’s library is like
O'Fallon out-borrows every town next door
At 7.8 loans per resident, O'Fallon leads the four towns here. The closest is O'Fallon Township, at 7.8. Libraries next door ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 58,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.3 times last year, on average. 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.
What’s behind O'Fallon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, O'Fallon is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #248 of 754 in Illinois. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; O'Fallon’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 →
113 community nonprofits are registered in O'Fallon
3.5 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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of O'Fallon’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 O'Fallon’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
251K 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 O'Fallon’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 58K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.3 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
O'Fallon Public Library serves 32,289 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 5 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
O'Fallon Public Library, 120 Civic Plaza, O'Fallon.
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 $3.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average O'Fallon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 10,926 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
O'Fallon borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O'Fallon | O'Fallon Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 61 | B |
| O'Fallon Township | O'Fallon Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 61 | B |
| Fairview Heights | Fairview Heights Public Library | 3.8 | 54 | B− |
| Caseyville Township | Fairview Heights Public Library | 3.8 | 54 | C+ |
| Shiloh | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Scott AFB | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Shiloh Valley Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Swansea | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| St. Clair 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.
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 O'Fallon
Does O'Fallon have a public library?
Yes. O'Fallon Public Library, 120 Civic Plaza, serves O'Fallon’s 32,289 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is O'Fallon Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is O'Fallon’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 7.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is O'Fallon’s civic life grade?
B O'Fallon is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #248 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 O'Fallon.
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.