Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0Peru’s library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Peru Public Library serves 9,904 people in and around Peru. Last year it lent 54K print books and media and logged 48K visits.
What Peru’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Peru Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Peru out-borrows every town next door
At 5.4 loans per resident, Peru leads the four towns here. The closest is Peru Township, at 5.4. Libraries next door ↓
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 Peru’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Peru is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #159 of 754 in Illinois. Peru 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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Peru
4.0 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.8%
9.8% of Peru’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 Peru’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Peru Public Library serves 9,904 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
54K 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 Peru’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
About 3 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
Peru Public Library, 1409 Eleventh Street, Peru.
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 $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Peru cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $698K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $964K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $698K 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 1,511 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Peru 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peru | Peru Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 58 | B+ |
| Peru Township | Peru Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 58 | — graded with its twin city |
| LaSalle | Lasalle Public Library fine-free | 1.8 | 43 | B+ |
| LaSalle Township | Lasalle Public Library fine-free | 1.8 | 43 | B+ |
| Dalzell | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dimmick Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Peru
Does Peru have a public library?
Yes. Peru Public Library, 1409 Eleventh Street, serves 9,904 people in and around Peru (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peru Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Peru’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 5.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Peru’s civic life grade?
B+ Peru is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #159 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 Peru.
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.