Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0Rock Island’s library runs 27 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Rock Island Public Library serves Rock Island’s 37,108 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 154K print books and media and logged 120K visits.
What stands out about Rock Island’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Rock Island’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rock Island is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #206 of 754 in Illinois. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
145 community nonprofits are registered in Rock Island
4.0 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.6%
10.6% of Rock Island’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 Rock Island’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Rock Island Public Library serves 37,108 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
154K 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 Rock Island’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 162K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
3 places to borrow in Rock Island
Rock Island Public Library, 401 Nineteenth Street, Rock Island.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Rock Island
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rock Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 15,737 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rock Island ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moline | Moline Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 61 | B+ |
| South Moline Township | Moline Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 61 | B |
| Rock Island | Rock Island Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 44 | B+ |
| Rock Island Township | Rock Island Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 44 | A− |
| South Rock Island Township | Watts-Midtown Branch Library fine-free | 4.2 | 56 | A− |
| Milan | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Rock Island Arsenal | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Moline Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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.
- 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 Rock Island
Does Rock Island have a public library?
Yes. Rock Island Public Library, 401 Nineteenth Street, serves Rock Island’s 37,108 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rock Island Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rock Island’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 4.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Rock Island’s civic life grade?
B+ Rock Island is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #206 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 Rock Island.
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.