Photo: Zarka Khalid · CC BY-SA 4.0Frankfort’s library lends 7.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Frankfort Public Library District serves Frankfort’s 33,761 residents. Last year it lent 261K print books and media and logged 100K visits.
What Frankfort’s library is like
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Frankfort Public Library District is above the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Frankfort Public Library District charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the eight libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Frankfort Public Library District is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 75 items go out. The building ↓
Frankfort invests in its library
Frankfort Public Library District spends $86 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (89%) 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 Frankfort’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Frankfort is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #175 of 754 in Illinois. Frankfort is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Frankfort’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
101 community nonprofits are registered in Frankfort
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Frankfort’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 Frankfort’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
261K 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 Frankfort’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 97K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
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.
Frankfort Public Library District serves 33,761 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 75 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 7 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
Frankfort Public Library District, 21119 South Pfeiffer Road, Frankfort.
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 $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Frankfort cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 16,121 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Frankfort ranks 3rd of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Township | Flossmoor Public Library | 9.7 | 65 | C+ |
| Tinley Park | Tinley Park Public Library | 9.2 | 70 | C+ |
| Frankfort | Frankfort Public Library District | 7.7 | 67 | B+ |
| Frankfort Township | Frankfort Public Library District | 7.7 | 67 | C+ |
| Manhattan Township | Manhattan-Elwood Public Library District fine-free | 5.3 | 47 | B− |
| New Lenox Township | New Lenox Public Library District fine-free | 5.2 | 59 | C |
| Mokena | Mokena Community Public Library District fine-free | 4.2 | 65 | B |
| Matteson | Matteson Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 65 | C+ |
| Richton Park | Richton Park Public Library District fine-free | 2.2 | 54 | C+ |
| Frankfort Square | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Green Garden Township | None of its own | — | — | 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 Frankfort
Does Frankfort have a public library?
Yes. Frankfort Public Library District, 21119 South Pfeiffer Road, serves Frankfort’s 33,761 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Frankfort Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Frankfort’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Frankfort’s civic life grade?
B+ Frankfort is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #175 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 Frankfort.
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.