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Library · Carbondale

Carbondale Public Library

Carbondale Public Library serves 21,857 people in and around Carbondale. Last year it lent 79K books, movies and e-books and logged 129K visits.

405 West Main Street, Carbondale 62901 · about 64 hours a week
Photo: Bradley Furlow
Borrowed a year
79K
3.6 per resident
Visits a year
129K
5.9 per resident · Above typical (3.1)
Programs & events
389
about 7 a week · 6,792 attended
Cardholders
20%
4,461 cards
Open
64 hrs
a week

What stands out about Carbondale Public Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

129K
visits
5.9 per resident
79K
loans, print + digital
3.6 per resident
389
programs & events
6,792 attended
4,461
library cards
20% of people served
Every open hour24items borrowed
Every week131people at a program
Every day117Wi-Fi sessions
14 staff (full-time equivalent)14 public computers84K books & media on the shelves
The building

Find it

Carbondale Public Library, 405 West Main Street, Carbondale.

64
hours open a week
15,800
square feet
84K
books & media
With a card

Ask at the desk about getting a card.

New in Carbondale? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

How it compares

Strongest at visits per resident

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.

Visits per resident 5.9 visits · typical 3.1Higher than 85%
Borrowing per resident 3.6 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 54%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.4Lower than 64%
Programs offered 17.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Lower than 64%
Cardholders 20% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 86%
Spending $58 per resident · typical $43Higher than 68%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
In Illinois
#95 of 621

library systems for visits per resident.

Size group

Carbondale Public Library serves 21,857 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

79K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

79Kloans
Books & media (adults) 100%Kids’ books & media 0%E-books, audio & streaming 0%
How hard the shelves work
0.9×

Each of the 84K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.

Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Carbondale →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–536
Ages 6–1144
Teens70
Adults223
All ages16
Little ones
0.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

6,792
people at programs
389
programs
What your card is worth

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 Carbondale cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
1
Your card saves you about
$0
a year at retail prices · $0 a month

Who pays for it
$58 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.

Local taxes 73%State 10%Federal 3%Gifts & other 14%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M budget.

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 4,461 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHours
MurphysboroSallie Logan Public Library5.952
CarbondaleCarbondale Public Library3.664
MakandaNone of its own——
De SotoNone of its own——
PomonaNone of its own——

Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report.

About these numbers

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
  • Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
  • The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Carbondale.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is Carbondale Public Library one of the best things about Carbondale?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Start a conversation

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.

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