Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPalestine’s library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Palestine Public Library District serves 2,193 people in and around Palestine. Last year it lent 9,647 print books and media and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Palestine’s library
More library cards than residents
2,239 cards for 2,193 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
40% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 53%. What your card is worth ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Palestine Public Library District logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
64% of the 247 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 39 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Palestine Public Library District serves 2,193 people in and around Palestine, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Palestine’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palestine is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Palestine is graded on two of the three inputs. Palestine’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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Palestine
7.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Palestine’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 Palestine’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Palestine Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Palestine Public Library District serves 2,193 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Books and media off the shelf
9,647 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 Palestine’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
247 programs a year
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
Palestine Public Library District, 201 South Washington Street, Palestine.
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 $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palestine cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $123K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $199K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $123K 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 2,239 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.
- System-wide. Palestine Public Library District serves 2,193 people in and around Palestine, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Palestine.
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 Palestine
Does Palestine have a public library?
Yes. Palestine Public Library District, 201 South Washington Street, serves 2,193 people in and around Palestine (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Palestine Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Palestine’s library?
It logged 10.0 visits and lent 4.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Palestine’s civic life grade?
B+ Palestine is ahead of 72% 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 Palestine.
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.