Photo: File:Chicago River ferry.jpg: John Picken derivative work: Georgfotoart · CC BY 2.0Chicago’s library lends 3.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Chicago Public Library serves Chicago’s 2,746,388 residents from 81 locations. Last year it lent 11M print books and media and logged 4.9M visits.
What Chicago’s library is like
81 places to borrow in Chicago
Chicago Public Library runs 81 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Open about 72 hours a week
The main library is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out. The buildings ↓
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’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chicago is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #562 of 754 in Illinois. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #197. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Chicago’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$97K) 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 →
8,790 community nonprofits are registered in Chicago
3.2 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 (3,034 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 748 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Chicago’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 Chicago’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Chicago Public Library serves 2,746,388 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
11M 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’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 5.4M books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
About 227 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.
81 places to borrow in Chicago
Chicago Public Library, 400 South State Street, Chicago.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Chicago
And 68 more in Chicago.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chicago cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $126M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $195M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $126M 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 663,208 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chicago ranks 5th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niles Township | Skokie Public Library fine-free | 21.3 | 75 | C+ |
| Elk Grove Township | Elk Grove Village Public Library fine-free | 18.7 | 72 | D |
| Park Ridge | Park Ridge Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 68 | A− |
| Maine Township | Des Plaines Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 72 | C− |
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Schiller Park | Schiller Park Public Library fine-free | 2.6 | 48 | D− |
| Stickney Township | Prairie Trails Public Library District fine-free | 2.5 | 67 | D− |
| Calumet Township | Calumet Park Public Library | 0.3 | 43 | D− |
| Leyden Township | Northlake Public Library District fine-free | — | 67 | D− |
| Worth Township | Alsip-Merrionette Park Library District fine-free | — | 68 | D |
| Rosemont | 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 Chicago
Does Chicago have a public library?
Yes. Chicago Public Library, 400 South State Street, serves Chicago’s 2,746,388 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chicago Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Chicago’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Chicago’s civic life grade?
C− Chicago is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #562 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.
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.