Photo: AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0Hometown’s library runs 8.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Hometown Public Library serves Hometown’s 4,343 residents. Last year it lent 6,597 print books and media and logged 16K visits.
The short version on Hometown’s library
Illinois pays a big share
29% of the budget comes from the state, and 70% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hometown Public Library offered 36 programs last year, 8.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Hometown Public Library holds 27,000 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 Hometown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hometown is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #570 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Hometown Public Library spends $20 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Hometown
2.4 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Hometown’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 Hometown’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hometown Public Library serves 4,343 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
6,597 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 Hometown’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
36 programs a year
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
Hometown Public Library, 4331 Southwest Highway, Hometown.
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 $1.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hometown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $86K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $113K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $86K 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 1,406 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Lawn | Oak Lawn Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 65 | C− |
| Hometown | Hometown Public Library | 1.5 | 41 | C− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hometown Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Hometown
Does Hometown have a public library?
Yes. Hometown Public Library, 4331 Southwest Highway, serves Hometown’s 4,343 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hometown Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hometown’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 1.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hometown’s civic life grade?
C− Hometown is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #570 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 Hometown.
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.