Onarga’s library runs 2.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Onarga Community Public Library District serves 1,942 people in and around Onarga. Last year it lent 4,345 print books and media and logged 2,345 visits.
What Onarga’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Onarga Community 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
Onarga Community Public Library District offered 5 programs last year, 2.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Onarga Community Public Library District serves 1,942 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 37 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people Onarga Community Public Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Onarga Community Public Library District serves more than Onarga
The library’s service area covers 1,942 people in and around Onarga, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Onarga’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Onarga is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. Onarga 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Onarga
4.9 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.0%
11.0% of Onarga’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 Onarga’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Onarga Community Public Library District serves 1,942 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
4,345 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 Onarga’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
5 programs a year
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
Onarga Community Public Library District, 209 West Seminary Avenue, Onarga.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Onarga cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $129K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $76K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $129K 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 240 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Onarga
Does Onarga have a public library?
Yes. Onarga Community Public Library District, 209 West Seminary Avenue, serves 1,942 people in and around Onarga (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Onarga Community Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Onarga’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Onarga’s civic life grade?
A Onarga is ahead of 88% 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 Onarga.
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.