Photo: Dual Freq · CC BY 2.5Weldon’s library logs 8.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Weldon Public Library District serves 690 people in and around Weldon. Last year it lent 3,252 print books and media and logged 5,954 visits.
What Weldon’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 118 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 9 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Weldon Public Library District serves 690 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Programs draw a crowd
3,883 people came to the library’s 118 programs last year: 5.6 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Weldon Public Library District serves more than Weldon
The library’s service area covers 690 people in and around Weldon, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Weldon invests in its library
Weldon Public Library District spends $124 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Weldon’s civic life grade
Weldon isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Weldon Public Library District serves 690 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3,252 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 Weldon’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Find it
Weldon Public Library District, 505 Maple Street, Weldon.
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 $1.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Weldon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $86K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $95K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $86K 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 315 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 Weldon
Does Weldon have a public library?
Yes. Weldon Public Library District, 505 Maple Street, serves 690 people in and around Weldon (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Weldon Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Weldon’s library?
It logged 8.6 visits and lent 4.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Weldon’s civic life grade?
Weldon isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Weldon.
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.