Grayslake’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Grayslake Area Public Library District serves 27,919 people in and around Grayslake. Last year it lent 350K print books and media and logged 127K visits.
What Grayslake’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
Grayslake Area Public Library District lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Grayslake Area Public Library District spends $124 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) 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; Grayslake Area Public Library District serves 27,919 people in and around Grayslake, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Grayslake’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Grayslake is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #177 of 754 in Illinois. Grayslake is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Grayslake’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 →
109 community nonprofits are registered in Grayslake
5.2 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 (25 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Grayslake’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 Grayslake’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
350K 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 Grayslake’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Grayslake Area Public Library District serves 27,919 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 106 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Grayslake Area Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Grayslake Area Public Library District, 100 Library Lane, Grayslake.
No late fees. Good at every Grayslake Area Public Library District branch.
New in Grayslake? The Handbook →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 $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grayslake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 9,632 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Villa Township | Lake Villa Public Library District fine-free | 13.7 | 66 | C+ |
| Mundelein | Fremont Public Library District fine-free | 12.4 | 67 | C− |
| Warren Township | Warren-Newport Public Library District fine-free | 5.3 | 68 | C− |
| Grayslake | Grayslake Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 63 | B+ |
| Libertyville | Cook Memorial Public Library District fine-free | — | 68 | A |
| Avon Township | Round Lake Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 70 | C− |
| Round Lake Beach | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Gages Lake | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Third Lake | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Round Lake Park | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Hainesville | 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.
- System-wide. Grayslake Area Public Library District serves 27,919 people in and around Grayslake, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Grayslake.
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 Grayslake
Does Grayslake have a public library?
Yes. Grayslake Area Public Library District, 100 Library Lane, serves 27,919 people in and around Grayslake (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grayslake Area Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Grayslake’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 12.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Grayslake’s civic life grade?
B+ Grayslake is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #177 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 Grayslake.
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.