Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Zeigler’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Zeigler Public Library serves Zeigler’s 1,484 residents. Last year it logged 2,103 visits.
Zeigler’s library, in brief
Illinois pays a big share
35% of the budget comes from the state, and 50% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Zeigler Public Library offered 1 programs last year, 0.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Zeigler Public Library serves 1,484 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Zeigler Public Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 2% of the people Zeigler Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Zeigler’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Zeigler is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Zeigler Public Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($31K–$52K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Zeigler
1.6 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Zeigler’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 Zeigler’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Zeigler Public Library serves 1,484 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Zeigler Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 39 items borrowed against 2,103 visits, so we leave the count out.
1 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Zeigler Public Library, 102 East Maryland Street, Zeigler.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Zeigler cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $31K.
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 30 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Zeigler
Does Zeigler have a public library?
Yes. Zeigler Public Library, 102 East Maryland Street, serves Zeigler’s 1,484 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Zeigler 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 Zeigler’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Zeigler’s civic life grade?
D Zeigler is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Zeigler.
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.