Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0Forest Park’s library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Forest Park Public Library serves Forest Park’s 14,339 residents. Last year it lent 103K print books and media and logged 99K visits.
What Forest Park’s library is like
People come to Forest Park Public Library a lot
Forest Park Public Library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
Forest Park Public Library is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out. The building ↓
Forest Park invests in its library
Forest Park Public Library spends $140 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 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 Forest Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Forest Park is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #73 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 →
64 community nonprofits are registered in Forest Park
4.6 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.0%
10.0% of Forest 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 Forest Park’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Forest Park Public Library serves 14,339 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Books and media off the shelf
103K 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 Forest Park’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 76K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
About 6 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
Forest Park Public Library, 7555 Jackson Boulevard, Forest Park.
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 Forest Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 5,050 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Forest Park ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Forest | River Forest Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 67 | A+ |
| River Forest Township | River Forest Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 67 | — graded with its twin city |
| North Riverside | North Riverside Public Library District fine-free | 7.4 | 51 | B+ |
| Forest Park | Forest Park Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 69 | A |
| Proviso Township | Forest Park Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 69 | C− |
| Maywood | Maywood Public Library District | 0.6 | 55 | 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 Forest Park
Does Forest Park have a public library?
Yes. Forest Park Public Library, 7555 Jackson Boulevard, serves Forest Park’s 14,339 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Forest Park Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Forest Park’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 7.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Forest Park’s civic life grade?
A Forest Park is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #73 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 Forest 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.