Photo: bogdanstepniak · CC BY 3.0Glencoe’s library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Glencoe Public Library serves Glencoe’s 8,849 residents. Last year it lent 164K print books and media and logged 89K visits.
What Glencoe’s library is like
Glencoe uses its library more than almost any town its size
Glencoe Public Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 19 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 94% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Glencoe ranks 7th in Illinois for library use
Out of 260 Illinois towns with a library of their own, Glencoe comes 7th for visits per resident. It’s also #7 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Glencoe invests in its library
Glencoe Public Library spends $304 per resident a year, about seven times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Glencoe Public Library is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out. The building ↓
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 Glencoe’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Glencoe is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #28 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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Glencoe
5.7 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 (11 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.
10.2%
10.2% of Glencoe’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 Glencoe’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
164K 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 Glencoe’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 71K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Glencoe Public Library serves 8,849 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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
Glencoe Public Library, 320 Park Avenue, Glencoe.
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 $1.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glencoe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M 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 3,782 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Glencoe ranks 5th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Trier Township | Wilmette Public Library District fine-free | 23.6 | 71 | A |
| Northbrook | Northbrook Public Library fine-free | 21.5 | 67 | A |
| Winnetka | Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District fine-free | 19.2 | 66 | A |
| Northfield | Northfield Branch Library fine-free | 19.2 | 67 | C |
| Glencoe | Glencoe Public Library fine-free | 18.5 | 67 | A |
| Northfield Township | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B |
| Highland Park | Highland Park Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 68 | A |
| Moraine Township | Highland Park Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 68 | A− |
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 Glencoe
Does Glencoe have a public library?
Yes. Glencoe Public Library, 320 Park Avenue, serves Glencoe’s 8,849 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glencoe Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Glencoe’s library?
It logged 10.0 visits and lent 18.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Glencoe’s civic life grade?
A Glencoe is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 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 Glencoe.
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.