Photo: 6th Happiness · CC BY-SA 3.0Hillside’s library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Hillside Public Library serves Hillside’s 8,320 residents. Last year it lent 23K print books and media and logged 31K visits.
Hillside’s library, in brief
Hillside invests in its library
Hillside Public Library spends $136 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (85%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 298 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 72 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Hillside Public Library holds 48,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Hillside’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hillside is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #448 of 754 in Illinois. Hillside’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 ($54K–$90K) 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Hillside
4.6 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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.7%
3.7% of Hillside’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 Hillside’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hillside cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $490K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 3,051 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hillside Public Library serves 8,320 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
23K 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 Hillside’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Hillside Public Library, 405 North Hillside Avenue, Hillside.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Hillside ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | Berkeley Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 54 | C+ |
| Westchester | Westchester Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 56 | B− |
| Hillside | Hillside Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 58 | C+ |
| Bellwood | Bellwood Public Library fine-free | 0.9 | 58 | 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 Hillside
Does Hillside have a public library?
Yes. Hillside Public Library, 405 North Hillside Avenue, serves Hillside’s 8,320 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hillside Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hillside’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 2.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hillside’s civic life grade?
C+ Hillside is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #448 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 Hillside.
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.