Rockford’s library runs 67 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Rockford Carnegie Library serves 3,575 people in and around Rockford. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,240 visits.
What Rockford’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
65% of the budget comes from the state, and 27% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 241 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Rockford Carnegie Library serves 3,575 people in and around Rockford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Rockford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rockford is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns. Rockford is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Rockford’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Rockford
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Rockford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Rockford’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rockford Carnegie Library serves 3,575 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rockford Carnegie Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,679 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
Find it
Rockford Carnegie Library, 162 S. Main St., Rockford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rockford Carnegie Library branch.
New in Rockford? 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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rockford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $215K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $433K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $215K 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 922 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Rockford Carnegie Library serves 3,575 people in and around Rockford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Rockford.
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 Rockford
Does Rockford have a public library?
Yes. Rockford Carnegie Library, 162 S. Main St., serves 3,575 people in and around Rockford (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rockford Carnegie 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 Rockford’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rockford’s civic life grade?
B Rockford is ahead of 55% 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 Rockford.
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.