Photo: Archaic saji at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Franklin Park’s library runs 50 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Franklin Park Public Library District serves Franklin Park’s 18,559 residents. Last year it lent 69K print books and media and logged 57K visits.
What stands out about Franklin Park’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Franklin Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Franklin Park is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #684 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$96K) 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 Franklin Park
1.3 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.2%
3.2% of Franklin 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 Franklin Park’s residents live; 2022.
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.
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.
Franklin Park Public Library District serves 18,559 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
69K 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 Franklin Park’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 106K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Find it
Franklin Park Public Library District, 10311 Grand Avenue, Franklin 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 Franklin Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 3,825 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Franklin Park ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Franklin Park | Franklin Park Public Library District fine-free | 3.7 | 56 | D |
| Bensenville | Bensenville Community Public Library District fine-free | 3.5 | 66 | C− |
| Schiller Park | Schiller Park Public Library fine-free | 2.6 | 48 | D− |
| River Grove | River Grove Public Library District | 1.5 | 56 | D |
| Melrose Park | Melrose Park Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 42 | D− |
| Leyden Township | Northlake Public Library District fine-free | — | 67 | D− |
| Northlake | 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.
- 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 Franklin Park
Does Franklin Park have a public library?
Yes. Franklin Park Public Library District, 10311 Grand Avenue, serves Franklin Park’s 18,559 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin Park Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Franklin Park’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 3.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Franklin Park’s civic life grade?
D Franklin Park is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #684 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 Franklin 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.