Elgin’s library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Elgin Public Library serves Elgin’s 543 residents. Last year it lent 1,213 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,128 visits.
Elgin’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
82% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 10%. What your card is worth ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 73% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 28%. The building also logs about 15 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
A small-town library
Elgin Public Library serves 543 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 40 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Elgin has a card
505 cards for 543 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Elgin Public Library logs about 15 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 4 public computers. That’s 10 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Elgin’s civic life grade
Elgin 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Elgin Public Library serves 543 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Elgin Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,213 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Elgin’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 6,674 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
3 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Elgin Public Library, 121 North Main Street, Elgin.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Elgin? 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 $1.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elgin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $33K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $37K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $33K 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 505 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Elgin Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Elgin
Does Elgin have a public library?
Yes. Elgin Public Library, 121 North Main Street, serves Elgin’s 543 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elgin Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Elgin’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Elgin’s civic life grade?
Elgin 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 Elgin.
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.