Photo: Johnnie Tran · CC BY-SA 3.0DeKalb’s library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Dekalb Public Library serves DeKalb’s 40,290 residents. Last year it lent 151K print books and media and logged 234K visits.
What DeKalb’s library is like
The library is a National Register landmark
Haish Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 65,786 square feet. The building ↓
People come to Dekalb Public Library a lot
Dekalb Public Library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 3.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Dekalb Public Library ran 1,423 programs last year, about 27 a week. That’s 35 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
Dekalb Public Library is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 43 items go out. The building ↓
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 DeKalb’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, DeKalb is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #277 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold 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 →
139 community nonprofits are registered in DeKalb
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (42 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of DeKalb’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 DeKalb’s residents live; 2022.
About 10 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.
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.
Dekalb Public Library serves 40,290 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 43 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
151K 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 DeKalb’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 153K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Dekalb Public Library, 309 Oak Street, Dekalb.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Haish Memorial Library
Haish Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 9, 1980. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Art Moderne.
The Haish Memorial Library (also known as the DeKalb Public Library) was designed by Chicago architects White and Weber (Charles E. White, Jr. and Bertram A. Weber) and built in the art deco style of the 1930s with funds left to the library by Jacob Haish in his 1928 will. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average DeKalb cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.8M 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 15,579 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
DeKalb ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 DeKalb
Does DeKalb have a public library?
Yes. Dekalb Public Library, 309 Oak Street, serves DeKalb’s 40,290 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dekalb Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is DeKalb’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 3.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is DeKalb’s civic life grade?
B DeKalb is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #277 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 DeKalb.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.