Phoenix’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Phoenix Public Library District serves Phoenix’s 1,734 residents. Last year it lent 400 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,000 visits.
The short version on Phoenix’s library
Phoenix Public Library District is used less than most libraries its size
Phoenix Public Library District records 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Phoenix Public Library District serves 1,734 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 48 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 49%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Phoenix Public Library District spends $17 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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 Phoenix’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Phoenix is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Phoenix Public Library District spends $17 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($23K–$38K) 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 →
Phoenix has few registered community nonprofits
0.5 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.2%
2.2% of Phoenix’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 Phoenix’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Phoenix Public Library District serves 1,734 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Phoenix Public Library District
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
400 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,326 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
26 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Phoenix last year.
Find it
Phoenix Public Library District, 15500 Eighth Avenue, Phoenix.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Phoenix cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 570 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Holland | South Holland Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 59 | C+ |
| Phoenix | Phoenix Public Library District | 0.2 | 48 | D− |
| Harvey | Harvey Public Library District | — | 44 | D− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Phoenix Public Library District counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Phoenix
Does Phoenix have a public library?
Yes. Phoenix Public Library District, 15500 Eighth Avenue, serves Phoenix’s 1,734 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Phoenix Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Phoenix’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Phoenix’s civic life grade?
D− Phoenix is ahead of 2% 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 Phoenix.
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.