Photo: DosEquis630708 · CC BY-SA 4.0Fox Lake’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Fox Lake Public Library District serves 26,718 people in and around Fox Lake. Last year it lent 48K print books and media and logged 45K visits.
Fox Lake’s library, in brief
Well funded, but lightly used
Fox Lake Public Library District spends $100 per resident, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 73% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Fox Lake Public Library District serves more than Fox Lake
The library’s service area covers 26,718 people in and around Fox Lake, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Fox Lake Public Library District holds 115,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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.
What’s behind Fox Lake’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fox Lake is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #592 of 754 in Illinois. Fox Lake 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 ($53K–$89K) 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Fox Lake
2.1 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Fox Lake’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 Fox Lake’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fox Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $953K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M 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 6,970 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fox Lake Public Library District serves 26,718 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
48K 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 Fox Lake’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 115K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
About 3 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
Fox Lake Public Library District, 255 East Grand Avenue, Fox Lake.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antioch Township | Antioch Public Library District fine-free | 6.2 | 68 | C+ |
| Fox Lake | Fox Lake Public Library District | 1.8 | 56 | C− |
| Spring Grove | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Volo | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Burton Township | 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 Fox Lake
Does Fox Lake have a public library?
Yes. Fox Lake Public Library District, 255 East Grand Avenue, serves 26,718 people in and around Fox Lake (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fox Lake Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fox Lake’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fox Lake’s civic life grade?
C− Fox Lake is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #592 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 Fox Lake.
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.