Photo: KWayne1 · CC BY-SA 4.0Sterling’s library runs 29 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Sterling Public Library serves Sterling’s 14,764 residents. Last year it lent 75K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
The short version on Sterling’s library
Illinois pays a big share
29% of the budget comes from the state, and 58% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Sterling out-borrows every town next door
At 5.1 loans per resident, Sterling leads the four towns here. The closest is Sterling Township, at 5.1. Libraries next door ↓
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 Sterling’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sterling is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #330 of 754 in Illinois. Sterling’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
66 community nonprofits are registered in Sterling
4.5 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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Sterling’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 Sterling’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sterling Public Library serves 14,764 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
75K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 50K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
14,347 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 4 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sterling last year.
Find it
Sterling Public Library, 102 West Third Street, Sterling.
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 $1.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sterling cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $663K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $663K 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 4,125 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sterling borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | Sterling Public Library | 5.1 | 49 | B− |
| Sterling Township | Sterling Public Library | 5.1 | 49 | — graded with its twin city |
| Coloma Township | Rock Falls Public Library District | 1.9 | 51 | C− |
| Rock Falls | Rock Falls Public Library District | 1.9 | 51 | C− |
| Hopkins Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Galt | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Sterling
Does Sterling have a public library?
Yes. Sterling Public Library, 102 West Third Street, serves Sterling’s 14,764 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sterling Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sterling’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sterling’s civic life grade?
B− Sterling is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #330 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 Sterling.
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.