Photo: Matt Turner · CC BY 2.0Petersburg’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Petersburg Public Library serves Petersburg’s 2,258 residents. Last year it lent 37K print books and media and logged 13K visits.
What Petersburg’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 160 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Petersburg is a town of borrowers
Petersburg Public Library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Petersburg Public Library serves 2,258 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 ↓
Federal money pays a real share
15% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 58% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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 Petersburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Petersburg is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. All three 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Petersburg
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
11.0%
11.0% of Petersburg’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 Petersburg’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
37K 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 Petersburg’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Petersburg Public Library serves 2,258 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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
Petersburg Public Library, 220 South Sixth Street, Petersburg.
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 $4.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Petersburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $144K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $668K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $144K 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 534 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 Petersburg
Does Petersburg have a public library?
Yes. Petersburg Public Library, 220 South Sixth Street, serves Petersburg’s 2,258 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Petersburg Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Petersburg’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 16.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Petersburg’s civic life grade?
A Petersburg 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 Petersburg.
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.