Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Dolton’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Dolton Public Library District serves 21,432 people in and around Dolton. Last year it lent 5,274 books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
Dolton’s library, in brief
Dolton Public Library District is used less than most libraries its size
Dolton Public Library District records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Dolton Public Library District offered 125 programs last year, 5.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Dolton Public Library District charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Dolton Public Library District serves 21,432 people in and around Dolton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dolton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dolton is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #706 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Dolton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Dolton’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) 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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Dolton
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 (39 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.
2.1%
2.1% of Dolton’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 Dolton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Dolton Public Library District serves 21,432 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dolton Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,274 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
125 programs a year
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
Dolton Public Library District, 14037 Lincoln Avenue, Dolton.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dolton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $993K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $109K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $993K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 14,353 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| South Holland | South Holland Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 59 | C+ |
| Calumet City | Calumet City Public Library | 0.7 | 53 | D |
| Riverdale | Riverdale Public Library District fine-free | 0.5 | 43 | D− |
| Dolton | Dolton Public Library District | — | 54 | D |
| Harvey | Harvey Public Library District | — | 44 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Dolton Public Library District counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Dolton Public Library District serves 21,432 people in and around Dolton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dolton.
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 Dolton
Does Dolton have a public library?
Yes. Dolton Public Library District, 14037 Lincoln Avenue, serves 21,432 people in and around Dolton (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dolton Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Dolton’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Dolton’s civic life grade?
D Dolton is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #706 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 Dolton.
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.