Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Galena’s library is a branch of Stone County Library, which lends less per resident than 83% of systems its size
Galena’s library is the Galena Area Library, a branch of Stone County Library, which serves 31,076 people and lent 54K items last year.
What stands out about Galena Area Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Galena’s civic life grade
Galena 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 7 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Stone County Library serves 31,076 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stone County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
13,740 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Galena Area Library, 322 W State Highway 248, Galena.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stone County Library branch.
New in Galena? The Handbook →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 $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Galena cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $797K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $965K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $797K 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 6,682 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Galena Area Library is one branch of Stone County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 31,076 people it serves.
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 Galena
Does Galena have a public library?
Yes: Galena Area Library, 322 W State Highway 248, is a branch of Stone County Library, which serves 31,076 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stone County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Galena’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Galena’s civic life grade?
Galena 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 Galena.
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.