St. Louis, Peoria and Northern Railroad Depot · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Pekin’s library runs 31 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Pekin Public Library serves Pekin’s 31,731 residents. Last year it lent 158K print books and media and logged 126K visits.
What stands out about Pekin’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pekin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pekin is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #328 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold 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 →
130 community nonprofits are registered in Pekin
4.1 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 (29 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.
6.6%
6.6% of Pekin’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 Pekin’s residents live; 2022.
About 14 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.
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.
Pekin Public Library serves 31,731 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
158K 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 Pekin’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 121K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
Find it
Pekin Public Library, 301 South Fourth Street, Pekin.
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 $2.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pekin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 9,746 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pekin ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groveland Township | Creve Coeur Public Library District | 6.0 | 41 | C |
| Pekin | Pekin Public Library | 5.0 | 61 | B− |
| Pekin Township | Pekin Public Library | 5.0 | 61 | — graded with its twin city |
| Marquette Heights | Marquette Heights Public Library fine-free | 2.2 | 36 | D |
| North Pekin | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Hollis Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Elm Grove Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Cincinnati 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 Pekin
Does Pekin have a public library?
Yes. Pekin Public Library, 301 South Fourth Street, serves Pekin’s 31,731 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pekin Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Pekin’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 5.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Pekin’s civic life grade?
B− Pekin is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #328 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 Pekin.
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.