Photo: Anonymous · CC BY-SA 4.0Downers Grove Township’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Downers Grove Public Library serves 50,247 people in and around Downers Grove Township. Last year it lent 905K print books and media and logged 421K visits.
Downers Grove Township’s library, in brief
Downers Grove Township uses its library more than almost any town its size
Downers Grove Public Library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 70 hours a week
Downers Grove Public Library is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 248 items go out. The buildings ↓
Programs draw a crowd
43,000 people came to the library’s 1,374 programs last year: 0.9 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Downers Grove Township invests in its library
Downers Grove Public Library spends $122 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) 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 Downers Grove Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Downers Grove Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #429 of 754 in Illinois. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #125. Downers Grove Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($88K–$147K) 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 →
504 community nonprofits are registered in Downers Grove Township
3.4 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 (81 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 36 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of Downers Grove Township’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 Downers Grove Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 248 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Downers Grove Public Library serves 50,247 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Books and media off the shelf
905K 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 Downers Grove Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 243K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.7 times last year, on average.
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.
5 places to borrow in Downers Grove Township
Downers Grove Public Library, 1050 Curtiss Street, Downers Grove.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Downers Grove Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Downers Grove Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.1M 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 31,608 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Downers Grove Township ranks 2nd of 10 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York Township | Elmhurst Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 70 | B− |
| Downers Grove Township | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | C+ |
| Downers Grove | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | A− |
| Oak Brook | Oak Brook Public Library fine-free | 15.4 | 62 | A |
| Lyons Township | Lagrange Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 67 | C |
| Hinsdale | Hinsdale Public Library fine-free | 14.7 | 67 | A− |
| Lisle Township | Woodridge Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 70 | C+ |
| Woodridge | Woodridge Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 70 | C |
| Westmont | Westmont Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Lemont Township | Lemont Public Library District fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | B+ |
| Willow Springs | 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.
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 Downers Grove Township
Does Downers Grove Township have a public library?
Yes. Downers Grove Public Library, 1050 Curtiss Street, serves 50,247 people in and around Downers Grove Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Downers Grove Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Downers Grove Township’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 18.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Downers Grove Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Downers Grove Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #429 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 Downers Grove Township.
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.