Broadview’s library logs 7.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Broadview Public Library District serves Broadview’s 7,998 residents. Last year it lent 25K print books and media and logged 60K visits.
The short version on Broadview’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 88% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 40%. The building also logs about 33 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Broadview invests in its library
Broadview Public Library District spends $176 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Broadview Public Library District holds 46,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Broadview’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Broadview is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #345 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Broadview
3.9 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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.6%
3.6% of Broadview’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 Broadview’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Broadview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $497K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 3,073 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Broadview Public Library District serves 7,998 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
25K 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 Broadview’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 3 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
Broadview Public Library District, 2226 South 16th Avenue, Broadview.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Broadview ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Grange Park | Lagrange Park Public Library District fine-free | 5.7 | 61 | B− |
| Westchester | Westchester Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 56 | B− |
| Broadview | Broadview Public Library District fine-free | 3.1 | 49 | B− |
| Maywood | Maywood Public Library District | 0.6 | 55 | 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 Broadview
Does Broadview have a public library?
Yes. Broadview Public Library District, 2226 South 16th Avenue, serves Broadview’s 7,998 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Broadview Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Broadview’s library?
It logged 7.5 visits and lent 3.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Broadview’s civic life grade?
B− Broadview is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #345 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 Broadview.
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.