Illinois Waterway Project Office · Photo: Grogan, Brian · Public domainPeoria’s library runs 14 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Peoria Public Library serves Peoria’s 113,150 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 537K print books and media and logged 293K visits.
What Peoria’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Peoria Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Five places to borrow in Peoria
Peoria Public Library runs five locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Peoria’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Peoria is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #405 of 754 in Illinois. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #119. Peoria’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$74K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
556 community nonprofits are registered in Peoria
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (167 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 17 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Peoria’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 Peoria’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Peoria Public Library serves 113,150 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
537K 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 Peoria’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 375K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
About 18 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.
5 places to borrow in Peoria
Peoria Public Library, 107 Northeast Monroe Street, Peoria.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Peoria
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Peoria cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7M 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 17,743 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Peoria ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fondulac Township | Fondulac Public Library District fine-free | 7.5 | 61 | C+ |
| Richwoods Township | Peoria Heights Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 47 | B− |
| Peoria Heights | Peoria Heights Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 47 | B− |
| Creve Coeur | Creve Coeur Public Library District | 6.0 | 41 | B− |
| Peoria | Peoria Public Library fine-free | 4.7 | 52 | C+ |
| Peoria City Township | Peoria Public Library fine-free | 4.7 | 52 | B− |
| Medina Township | North Branch Library fine-free | 4.7 | 48 | B |
| Limestone Township | Alpha Park Public Library District fine-free | — | 61 | D |
| Spring Bay Township | Spring Bay Branch Library fine-free | — | 12 | C− |
| West Peoria | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Kickapoo Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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 Peoria
Does Peoria have a public library?
Yes. Peoria Public Library, 107 Northeast Monroe Street, serves Peoria’s 113,150 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peoria Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Peoria’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 4.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Peoria’s civic life grade?
C+ Peoria is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #405 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 Peoria.
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.