Photo: Daniel Schwen · CC BY-SA 4.0Urbana’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Urbana Free Library serves 38,336 people in and around Urbana. Last year it lent 528K print books and media and logged 230K visits.
Urbana’s library, in brief
Urbana uses its library more than almost any town its size
Urbana Free Library logs 6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
Urbana Free Library is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 148 items go out. The building ↓
Urbana invests in its library
Urbana Free Library spends $114 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. 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.
What’s behind Urbana’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Urbana is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #100 of 754 in Illinois. Urbana 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 →
185 community nonprofits are registered in Urbana
4.7 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 (35 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.9%
9.9% of Urbana’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 Urbana’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
528K 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 Urbana’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 276K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, 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.
Urbana Free Library serves 38,336 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 148 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Find it
Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana.
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 $2.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Urbana cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 15,559 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Urbana ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champaign | Champaign Public Library fine-free | 14.1 | 70 | A− |
| Champaign City Township | Champaign Public Library fine-free | 14.1 | 70 | A− |
| Urbana | Urbana Free Library fine-free | 13.8 | 69 | A− |
| Cunningham Township | Urbana Free Library fine-free | 13.8 | 69 | A− |
| Urbana Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Somer Township | 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.
- 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 Urbana
Does Urbana have a public library?
Yes. Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, serves 38,336 people in and around Urbana (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Urbana Free Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Urbana’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 13.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Urbana’s civic life grade?
A− Urbana is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #100 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 Urbana.
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.