Bloomingdale School-Village Hall · Photo: Teemu08 · CC BY-SA 3.0Bloomingdale’s library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bloomingdale Public Library serves Bloomingdale’s 22,382 residents. Last year it lent 222K print books and media and logged 148K visits.
The short version on Bloomingdale’s library
Bloomingdale uses its library more than almost any town its size
Bloomingdale Public Library logs 6.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 9.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Bloomingdale out-borrows every town next door
At 9.9 loans per resident, Bloomingdale leads the four towns here. The closest is Carol Stream, at 9.4. Libraries next door ↓
Bloomingdale invests in its library
Bloomingdale Public Library spends $133 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
Bloomingdale Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 65 items go out. The building ↓
Programs draw a crowd
26,000 people came to the library’s 901 programs last year: 1.2 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Bloomingdale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bloomingdale is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #470 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; Bloomingdale’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($77K–$129K) 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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Bloomingdale
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Bloomingdale’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 Bloomingdale’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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 all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bloomingdale Public Library serves 22,382 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 65 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
222K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Bloomingdale’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 118K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
Find it
Bloomingdale Public Library, 101 Fairfield Way, Bloomingdale.
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 $1.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bloomingdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 12,719 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bloomingdale borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomingdale | Bloomingdale Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 66 | C |
| Carol Stream | Carol Stream Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 69 | C− |
| Addison | Addison Public Library fine-free | 6.4 | 66 | C− |
| Roselle | Roselle Public Library District fine-free | 5.9 | 64 | C |
| Glendale Heights | Glenside Public Library District fine-free | — | 70 | C− |
| Hanover Park | Sonya Crawshaw Branch Library | — | 66 | D− |
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. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Bloomingdale
Does Bloomingdale have a public library?
Yes. Bloomingdale Public Library, 101 Fairfield Way, serves Bloomingdale’s 22,382 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bloomingdale Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bloomingdale’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 9.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bloomingdale’s civic life grade?
C Bloomingdale is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #470 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Bloomingdale.
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.