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Homer Township Public Library District

Homer Township’s library runs 31 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size

Homer Township Public Library District serves Homer Township’s 40,759 residents. Last year it lent 131K print books and media and logged 116K visits.

14320 West 151st Street, Homer Glen 60491 · about 61 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 38% of U.S. towns · #431 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
131K
3.2 per resident
Visits a year
116K
2.9 per resident · Above typical (2.6)
Programs & events
1,255
about 24 a week · 25K attended
Cardholders
40%
16,159 cards
Open
61 hrs
a week

What stands out about Homer Township’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Homer Township’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Homer Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #431 of 754 in Illinois. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Homer Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Homer Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 38%
FewerMore
Illinois towns we grade (754)Ahead of 43%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $102K–$170K (3,055)Ahead of 38%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($102K–$170K) 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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

93 community nonprofits are registered in Homer Township

2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture80.20 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation170.42 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans210.51 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services130.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education110.27 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health20.04 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals100.23 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other120.28 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (20 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.

Volunteering

9.1%

9.1% of Homer Township’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 Homer Township’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 11 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Homer Township →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5350
Ages 6–11238
Teens211
Adults425
All ages31
Little ones
6.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

25K
people at programs
1,255
programs
How it compares

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.

Visits per resident 2.9 visits · typical 2.6Higher than 56%
Borrowing per resident 3.2 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 56%
Program attendance 0.6 attendees · typical 0.3Higher than 81%
Programs offered 30.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Higher than 87%
Cardholders 40% of residents · typical 39%Higher than 51%
Spending $52 per resident · typical $40Higher than 65%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Ranked in IL#171Most-used librariesof 260 towns
#179Most library borrowingof 259 towns
Size group

Homer Township Public Library District serves 40,759 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

116K
visits
2.9 per resident
131K
loans, print + digital
3.2 per resident
1,255
programs & events
25K attended
16K
library cards
40% of people served
Every open hour31items borrowed
Every week474people at a program
Every day28Wi-Fi sessions
17 staff (full-time equivalent)28 public computers94K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

131K 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 Homer Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

How hard the shelves work
1.4×

Each of the 94K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.

The building

Find it

Homer Township Public Library District, 14320 West 151st Street, Homer Glen.

61
hours open a week
26,497
square feet
94K
books & media

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.18 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Homer Township cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$52 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.

Local taxes 97%State 2%Gifts & other 1%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 16,159 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Homer Township ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Lemont TownshipLemont Public Library District fine-free7.266B+
Orland TownshipOrland Park Public Library6.672C
Orland ParkOrland Park Public Library6.672C+
Lockport TownshipCrest Hill Branch fine-free6.561D
New Lenox TownshipNew Lenox Public Library District fine-free5.259C
Homer TownshipHomer Township Public Library District fine-free3.261C+
Homer GlenHomer Township Public Library District fine-free3.261C+

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).

How to read these numbers

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 Homer Township

Does Homer Township have a public library?

Yes. Homer Township Public Library District, 14320 West 151st Street, serves Homer Township’s 40,759 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Homer Township Public Library District fine-free?

Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Homer Township’s library?

It logged 2.9 visits and lent 3.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Homer Township’s civic life grade?

C+ Homer Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #431 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 Homer Township.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.