Photo: Wuhazet - Henryk Żychowski · CC BY 3.0Elmwood Park’s library runs 36 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Elmwood Park Public Library serves Elmwood Park’s 24,521 residents. Last year it lent 132K print books and media and logged 87K visits.
Elmwood Park’s library, in brief
Open about 66 hours a week
Elmwood Park Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out. The building ↓
Elmwood Park invests in its library
Elmwood Park Public Library spends $89 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) 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 Elmwood Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Elmwood Park is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #384 of 754 in Illinois. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Elmwood Park’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$115K) 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 Elmwood Park
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Elmwood Park’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 Elmwood Park’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elmwood Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 5,122 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Elmwood Park Public Library serves 24,521 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
132K 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 Elmwood Park’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 77K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
About 8 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
Elmwood Park Public Library, 1 Conti Parkway, Elmwood Park.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Elmwood Park borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmwood Park | Elmwood Park Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 66 | C+ |
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| River Grove | River Grove Public Library District | 1.5 | 56 | D |
| Leyden Township | Northlake Public Library District fine-free | — | 67 | 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. Elmwood Park Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Elmwood Park
Does Elmwood Park have a public library?
Yes. Elmwood Park Public Library, 1 Conti Parkway, serves Elmwood Park’s 24,521 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elmwood Park Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Elmwood Park’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 5.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Elmwood Park’s civic life grade?
C+ Elmwood Park is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #384 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 Elmwood Park.
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.