Chanute Field Historic District · Photo: United States Army Air Corps · Public domainRantoul’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Rantoul Public Library serves Rantoul’s 12,371 residents. Last year it lent 23K print books and media and logged 44K visits.
The short version on Rantoul’s library
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Rantoul Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
Rantoul Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
66% of the 328 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 83 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Rantoul Public Library holds 64,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Rantoul’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rantoul is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #587 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$61K) 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Rantoul
2.3 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 (9 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.
5.3%
5.3% of Rantoul’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 Rantoul’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rantoul Public Library serves 12,371 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
23K 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 Rantoul’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
About 2 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
Rantoul Public Library, 106 West Flessner Avenue, Rantoul.
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 Rantoul cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $836K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $432K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $836K 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 1,956 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 Rantoul
Does Rantoul have a public library?
Yes. Rantoul Public Library, 106 West Flessner Avenue, serves Rantoul’s 12,371 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rantoul Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rantoul’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 1.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rantoul’s civic life grade?
C− Rantoul is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #587 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 Rantoul.
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.