Photo: Marcusmax · CC BY-SA 3.0Hazel Crest’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Grande Prairie Public Library District serves 29,682 people in and around Hazel Crest. Last year it lent 26K print books and media and logged 45K visits.
What stands out about Grande Prairie Public Library District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hazel Crest’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hazel Crest is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #543 of 754 in Illinois. Hazel Crest is graded on two of the three inputs. Hazel Crest’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$85K) 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 →
64 community nonprofits are registered in Hazel Crest
4.7 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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.9%
2.9% of Hazel Crest’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 Hazel Crest’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Grande Prairie Public Library District serves 29,682 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Grande Prairie Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
26K 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 Hazel Crest’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 2 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
Grande Prairie Public Library District, 3479 West 183rd Street, Hazel Crest.
Good at every Grande Prairie Public Library District branch.
New in Hazel Crest? The Handbook →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 Hazel Crest cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $481K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 9,867 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flossmoor | Flossmoor Public Library | 9.7 | 65 | A+ |
| Homewood | Homewood Public Library District | 7.5 | 67 | A |
| Markham | Markham Public Library | 0.5 | 51 | D |
| Hazel Crest | Grande Prairie Public Library District | — | 58 | C |
| Harvey | Harvey Public Library District | — | 44 | D− |
| Country Club Hills | None of its own | — | — | D |
| East Hazel Crest | 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. Grande Prairie Public Library District serves 29,682 people in and around Hazel Crest, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hazel Crest.
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 Hazel Crest
Does Hazel Crest have a public library?
Yes. Grande Prairie Public Library District, 3479 West 183rd Street, serves 29,682 people in and around Hazel Crest (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grande Prairie Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hazel Crest’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 0.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hazel Crest’s civic life grade?
C Hazel Crest is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #543 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 Hazel Crest.
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.