Crete’s library runs 44 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Crete Public Library District serves 17,099 people in and around Crete. Last year it lent 100K print books and media and logged 61K visits.
What Crete’s library is like
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 758 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Crete Public Library District spends $108 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (88%) comes from local taxes. 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; Crete Public Library District serves 17,099 people in and around Crete, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Crete’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Crete is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #266 of 754 in Illinois. Crete is graded on two of the three inputs. Crete’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Crete
7.0 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 (30 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.
5.9%
5.9% of Crete’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 Crete’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Crete cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 5,537 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Crete Public Library District serves 17,099 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Crete Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
100K 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 Crete’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 10 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Crete Public Library District, 1177 North Main Street, Crete.
No late fees. Good at every Crete Public Library District branch.
New in Crete? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Park | University Park Public Library District | 1.5 | 52 | D |
| Crete | Crete Public Library District fine-free | — | 56 | B |
| Steger | Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District fine-free | — | 48 | D |
| Crete Township | Crete Public Library District fine-free | — | 56 | C− |
| Bloom Township | Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library District fine-free | — | 51 | C− |
| Goodenow | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Crete Public Library District serves 17,099 people in and around Crete, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Crete.
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 Crete
Does Crete have a public library?
Yes. Crete Public Library District, 1177 North Main Street, serves 17,099 people in and around Crete (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Crete Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Crete’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 5.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Crete’s civic life grade?
B Crete is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #266 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 Crete.
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.