Calumet Township’s library logs 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Calumet Park Public Library serves 7,025 people in and around Calumet Township. Last year it lent 2,240 books, movies and e-books and logged 850 visits.
The short version on Calumet Township’s library
Calumet Park Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Calumet Park Public Library records 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Calumet Park Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Calumet Park Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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 Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Calumet Township is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #715 of 754 in Illinois. Calumet Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Calumet Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Calumet Park Public Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Calumet Township
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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of Calumet Township’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 Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Calumet Park Public Library serves 7,025 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,240 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
120 programs a year
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 Park Public Library, 1500 West 127th Street, Calumet Park.
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 Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $106K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $39K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $106K 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 3,000 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Calumet Township ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton Township | Homewood Public Library District | 7.5 | 67 | D |
| 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 Township | Calumet Park Public Library | 0.3 | 43 | D− |
| Calumet Park | Calumet Park Public Library | 0.3 | 43 | D− |
| Worth Township | Alsip-Merrionette Park Library District fine-free | — | 68 | 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.
- 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.
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 Township
Does Calumet Township have a public library?
Yes. Calumet Park Public Library, 1500 West 127th Street, serves 7,025 people in and around Calumet Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calumet Park Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Calumet Township’s library?
It logged 0.1 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Calumet Township’s civic life grade?
D− Calumet Township is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #715 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 Township.
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.