Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 3.0Chicago Heights’ library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Chicago Heights Public Library serves Chicago Heights’s 27,480 residents. Last year it lent 14K print books and media and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Chicago Heights’s library
Chicago Heights Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Chicago Heights Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people Chicago Heights Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Chicago Heights Public Library offered 165 programs last year, 6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Illinois pays a big share
23% of the budget comes from the state, and 75% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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 Chicago Heights’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chicago Heights is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #719 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Chicago Heights’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Chicago Heights’ 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 ($41K–$68K) 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 →
77 community nonprofits are registered in Chicago Heights
2.9 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 (43 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.8%
2.8% of Chicago Heights’ 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 Chicago Heights’ 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.
Chicago Heights Public Library serves 27,480 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
14K 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 Chicago Heights’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 73K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Chicago Heights Public Library, 25 West Fifteenth Street, Chicago Heights.
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 Chicago Heights cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $271K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 2,734 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chicago Heights ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flossmoor | Flossmoor Public Library | 9.7 | 65 | A+ |
| Park Forest | Park Forest Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 48 | C− |
| Chicago Heights | Chicago Heights Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 37 | D− |
| Steger | Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District fine-free | — | 48 | D |
| Glenwood | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| South Chicago Heights | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Olympia Fields | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Chicago Heights 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 Chicago Heights
Does Chicago Heights have a public library?
Yes. Chicago Heights Public Library, 25 West Fifteenth Street, serves Chicago Heights’ 27,480 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chicago Heights Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Chicago Heights’ library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Chicago Heights’ civic life grade?
D− Chicago Heights is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #719 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 Chicago Heights.
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.