Photo: Omnedon · Public domainPotomac’s library lends 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Potomac Public Library District serves 1,195 people in and around Potomac. Last year it lent 315 print books and media and logged 811 visits.
Potomac’s library, in brief
Potomac Public Library District is used less than most libraries its size
Potomac Public Library District records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Potomac Public Library District serves 1,195 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 49 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 4% of the people Potomac Public Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Potomac Public Library District serves more than Potomac
The library’s service area covers 1,195 people in and around Potomac, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Potomac Public Library District spends $22 per resident, less than 90% 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 Potomac’s civic life grade
Potomac isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Potomac Public Library District serves 1,195 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Potomac Public Library District
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
315 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 Potomac’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 4,755 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
39 programs a year
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
Potomac Public Library District, 110 East State Street, Vermilion.
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 Potomac cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $26K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8,895 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $26K 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 43 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 Potomac
Does Potomac have a public library?
Yes. Potomac Public Library District, 110 East State Street, serves 1,195 people in and around Potomac (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Potomac Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Potomac’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 0.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Potomac’s civic life grade?
Potomac isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Potomac.
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.