Photo: Kman2005 · CC BY-SA 4.0Gurnee’s library logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Warren-Newport Public Library District serves 66,477 people in and around Gurnee. Last year it lent 350K print books and media and logged 235K visits.
The short version on Gurnee’s library
Gurnee out-borrows every town next door
At 5.3 loans per resident, Gurnee leads the four towns here. The closest is Warren Township, at 5.3. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
Warren-Newport Public Library District is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 83 items go out. The building ↓
Warren-Newport Public Library District serves more than Gurnee
The library’s service area covers 66,477 people in and around Gurnee, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Gurnee invests in its library
Warren-Newport Public Library District spends $97 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) 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 Gurnee’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gurnee is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #524 of 754 in Illinois. Gurnee is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Gurnee’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($90K–$150K) 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 →
109 community nonprofits are registered in Gurnee
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Gurnee’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 Gurnee’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gurnee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.5M 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 19,067 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Warren-Newport Public Library District serves 66,477 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 83 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Gurnee’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 165K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
About 11 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
Warren-Newport Public Library District, 224 North O'Plaine Road, Gurnee.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Gurnee borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gurnee | Warren-Newport Public Library District fine-free | 5.3 | 68 | C |
| Warren Township | Warren-Newport Public Library District fine-free | 5.3 | 68 | C− |
| Waukegan | Waukegan Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 54 | D− |
| Waukegan Township | Waukegan Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 54 | — graded with its twin city |
| Gages Lake | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Grandwood Park | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Park City | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Third Lake | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Wadsworth | 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 Gurnee
Does Gurnee have a public library?
Yes. Warren-Newport Public Library District, 224 North O'Plaine Road, serves 66,477 people in and around Gurnee (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Warren-Newport Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gurnee’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 5.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Gurnee’s civic life grade?
C Gurnee is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #524 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 Gurnee.
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.