Photo: vxla · CC BY 2.0Calumet City’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Calumet City Public Library serves Calumet City’s 36,033 residents. Last year it lent 24K print books and media and logged 55K visits.
The short version on Calumet City’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Calumet City’s library lends 0.7 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Lansing at 2.8. Libraries next door ↓
Illinois pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
65% of the 301 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 74 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Calumet City Public Library holds 84,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once 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 Calumet City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Calumet City is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #706 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Calumet City’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Calumet City’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$69K) 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 →
93 community nonprofits are registered in Calumet City
2.7 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 (54 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.
2.1%
2.1% of Calumet City’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 Calumet City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Calumet City Public Library serves 36,033 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
24K 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 Calumet City’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 84K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Calumet City Public Library, 660 Manistee Avenue, Calumet City.
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 Calumet City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $494K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 2,198 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Calumet City ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lansing | Lansing Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 60 | C |
| South Holland | South Holland Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 59 | C+ |
| Hammond | Hammond Public Library | 1.9 | 64 | D− |
| Calumet City | Calumet City Public Library | 0.7 | 53 | D |
| Dolton | Dolton Public Library District | — | 54 | D |
| Burnham | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Calumet City Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Calumet City
Does Calumet City have a public library?
Yes. Calumet City Public Library, 660 Manistee Avenue, serves Calumet City’s 36,033 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calumet City Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Calumet City’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 0.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Calumet City’s civic life grade?
D Calumet City is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #706 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 Calumet City.
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.