Photo: Randy Escalada · CC BY-SA 2.0Des Plaines’ library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Des Plaines Public Library serves Des Plaines’s 60,675 residents. Last year it lent 670K print books and media and logged 309K visits.
What Des Plaines’s library is like
Des Plaines uses its library more than almost any town its size
Des Plaines Public Library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 72 hours a week
Des Plaines Public Library is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 179 items go out. The building ↓
Des Plaines invests in its library
Des Plaines Public Library spends $104 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.
What’s behind Des Plaines’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Des Plaines is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #452 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
183 community nonprofits are registered in Des Plaines
3.1 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 (80 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of Des Plaines’ 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 Des Plaines’ residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
670K 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 Des Plaines’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 286K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, 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.
Des Plaines Public Library serves 60,675 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 179 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 17 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.
Find it
Des Plaines Public Library, 1501 Ellinwood Street, Des Plaines.
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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Des Plaines cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.3M 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 19,492 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Des Plaines ranks 7th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Grove Township | Elk Grove Village Public Library fine-free | 18.7 | 72 | D |
| Elk Grove Village | Elk Grove Village Public Library fine-free | 18.7 | 72 | D |
| Glenview | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B+ |
| Northfield Township | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B |
| Mount Prospect | Mount Prospect Public Library fine-free | 15.6 | 70 | C |
| Park Ridge | Park Ridge Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 68 | A− |
| Des Plaines | Des Plaines Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 72 | C+ |
| Maine Township | Des Plaines Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 72 | C− |
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Leyden Township | Northlake Public Library District fine-free | — | 67 | 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 Des Plaines
Does Des Plaines have a public library?
Yes. Des Plaines Public Library, 1501 Ellinwood Street, serves Des Plaines’ 60,675 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Des Plaines Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Des Plaines’ library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 11.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Des Plaines’ civic life grade?
C+ Des Plaines is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #452 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 Des Plaines.
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.