Photo: Anonymous · CC BY-SA 4.0Downers Grove’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Downers Grove Public Library serves Downers Grove’s 50,247 residents. Last year it lent 905K print books and media and logged 421K visits.
The short version on Downers Grove’s library
Downers Grove 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 ↓
Downers Grove ranks 8th in Illinois for borrowing
Out of 259 Illinois towns with a library of their own, Downers Grove comes 8th for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #23 for library use. 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 building ↓
Downers Grove out-borrows every town next door
At 18.0 loans per resident, Downers Grove leads the eight towns here. The closest is Downers Grove Township, at 18.0. Libraries next door ↓
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 ↓
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’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Downers Grove is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #124 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
196 community nonprofits are registered in Downers Grove
3.9 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 (25 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Downers Grove’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’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’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.
Find it
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.
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 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 borrows the most per resident of the 8 towns here. 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− |
| Downers Grove Township | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | C+ |
| Oak Brook | Oak Brook Public Library fine-free | 15.4 | 62 | A |
| Woodridge | Woodridge Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 70 | C |
| Lisle Township | Woodridge Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 70 | C+ |
| Lombard | Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District fine-free | 12.4 | 70 | B |
| Lisle | Lisle Library District fine-free | 11.6 | 67 | B |
| Westmont | Westmont Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Darien | Indian Prairie Public Library District fine-free | — | 66 | 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
Does Downers Grove have a public library?
Yes. Downers Grove Public Library, 1050 Curtiss Street, serves Downers Grove’s 50,247 residents (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’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’s civic life grade?
A− Downers Grove is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #124 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.
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.