Photo: Bnperdue2010 · CC BY-SA 4.0Darien’s library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Indian Prairie Public Library District serves 43,892 people in and around Darien. Last year it lent 539K print books and media and logged 367K visits.
What Darien’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Indian Prairie Public Library District logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 94% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The Darien branch is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Indian Prairie Public Library District spends $92 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) 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; Indian Prairie Public Library District serves 43,892 people in and around Darien, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Darien’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Darien is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #378 of 754 in Illinois. Darien is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Darien’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Darien
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (12 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.
8.9%
8.9% of Darien’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 Darien’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 157 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Indian Prairie Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Indian Prairie Public Library District serves 43,892 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Books and media off the shelf
539K 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 Darien’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 5 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
Indian Prairie Public Library District, 401 Plainfield Road, Darien.
No late fees. Good at every Indian Prairie Public Library District branch.
New in Darien? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Darien cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4M 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 27,371 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downers Grove | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | A− |
| Woodridge | Woodridge Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 70 | C |
| Westmont | Westmont Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Darien | Indian Prairie Public Library District fine-free | — | 66 | C+ |
| Willowbrook | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Indian Prairie Public Library District serves 43,892 people in and around Darien, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Darien.
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 Darien
Does Darien have a public library?
Yes. Indian Prairie Public Library District, 401 Plainfield Road, serves 43,892 people in and around Darien (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Indian Prairie Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Darien’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 12.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Darien’s civic life grade?
C+ Darien is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #378 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 Darien.
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.