Joshua P. Young House · Photo: Burnhamandroot · Public domainBlue Island’s library runs 29 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Blue Island Public Library serves Blue Island’s 22,558 residents. Last year it lent 56K print books and media and logged 79K visits.
What Blue Island’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Blue Island Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Blue Island Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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 Blue Island’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Blue Island is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #632 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$74K) 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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Blue Island
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (31 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.2%
3.2% of Blue Island’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 Blue Island’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Blue Island Public Library serves 22,558 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
56K 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 Blue Island’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 88K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
About 5 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.
Find it
Blue Island Public Library, 2433 York Street, Blue Island.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blue Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 3,863 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Blue Island ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Blue Island | Blue Island Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 64 | C− |
| Riverdale | Riverdale Public Library District fine-free | 0.5 | 43 | D− |
| Calumet Park | Calumet Park Public Library | 0.3 | 43 | D− |
| Calumet Township | Calumet Park Public Library | 0.3 | 43 | D− |
| Alsip | Alsip-Merrionette Park Library District fine-free | — | 68 | C− |
| Robbins | William Leonard Public Library District | — | 37 | D |
| Dixmoor | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Posen | None of its own | — | — | 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 Blue Island
Does Blue Island have a public library?
Yes. Blue Island Public Library, 2433 York Street, serves Blue Island’s 22,558 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blue Island Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Blue Island’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 2.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Blue Island’s civic life grade?
C− Blue Island is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #632 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 Blue Island.
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.