Photo: OhanaSurf · CC BY-SA 4.0Fox River Grove’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Fox River Grove Public Library District serves Fox River Grove’s 3,973 residents. Last year it lent 41K print books and media and logged 25K visits.
What Fox River Grove’s library is like
Fox River Grove is a town of borrowers
Fox River Grove Public Library District lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Fox River Grove Public Library District ran 396 programs last year, about 8 a week. That’s 100 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 6,151 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Fox River Grove invests in its library
Fox River Grove Public Library District spends $127 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 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 Fox River Grove’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fox River Grove is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #84 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Fox River 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.6%
11.6% of Fox River 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 Fox River Grove’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fox River Grove Public Library District serves 3,973 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
41K 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 River Grove’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
Find it
Fox River Grove Public Library District, 407 Lincoln Avenue, Fox River 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 $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fox River Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $505K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $801K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $505K 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 1,330 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fox River Grove | Fox River Grove Public Library District fine-free | 10.3 | 43 | A− |
| Cary | Cary Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 66 | B− |
| Lake Barrington | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Barrington Hills | None of its own | — | — | B |
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 River Grove
Does Fox River Grove have a public library?
Yes. Fox River Grove Public Library District, 407 Lincoln Avenue, serves Fox River Grove’s 3,973 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fox River Grove Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fox River Grove’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 10.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fox River Grove’s civic life grade?
A− Fox River Grove is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #84 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 River 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.