Rochester’s library lends 8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Rochester Public Library District serves 7,540 people in and around Rochester. Last year it lent 60K print books and media and logged 33K visits.
What Rochester’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
12,000 people came to the system’s 444 programs last year: 1.6 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
6,484 cards for 7,540 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
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; Rochester Public Library District serves 7,540 people in and around Rochester, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Rochester’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rochester is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #26 of 754 in Illinois. Rochester 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Rochester
5.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.7%
12.7% of Rochester’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 Rochester’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rochester Public Library District serves 7,540 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rochester Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
60K 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 Rochester’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Find it
Rochester Public Library District, 1 Community Drive, Rochester.
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 $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rochester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $579K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $579K 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 6,484 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.
- System-wide. Rochester Public Library District serves 7,540 people in and around Rochester, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Rochester.
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 Rochester
Does Rochester have a public library?
Yes. Rochester Public Library District, 1 Community Drive, serves 7,540 people in and around Rochester (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rochester Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rochester’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 8.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rochester’s civic life grade?
A Rochester is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 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 Rochester.
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.