Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0Joliet’s library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Joliet Public Library serves Joliet’s 150,362 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 524K print books and media and logged 267K visits.
Joliet’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Joliet’s library lends 3.5 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Crest Hill at 6.5. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Joliet Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
92,000 people came to the library’s 2,923 programs last year: 0.6 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Joliet Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
The main library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out. The buildings ↓
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 Joliet’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Joliet is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #691 of 754 in Illinois. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #307. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Joliet’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$115K) 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 →
347 community nonprofits are registered in Joliet
2.3 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 (127 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.8%
4.8% of Joliet’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 Joliet’s residents live; 2022.
About 21 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Joliet Public Library serves 150,362 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
524K 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 Joliet’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 239K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
2 places to borrow in Joliet
Joliet Public Library, 150 North Ottawa Street, Joliet.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Joliet
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Joliet cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M 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 24,823 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Joliet ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crest Hill | Crest Hill Branch fine-free | 6.5 | 61 | D |
| Plainfield | Plainfield Public Library District fine-free | 5.4 | 62 | C+ |
| New Lenox | New Lenox Public Library District fine-free | 5.2 | 59 | C+ |
| Joliet | Joliet Public Library | 3.5 | 65 | D |
| Shorewood | Shorewood-Troy Public Library District fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| Ridgewood | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Preston Heights | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Crystal Lawns | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Ingalls Park | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Rockdale | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Sunnyland | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Joliet
Does Joliet have a public library?
Yes. Joliet Public Library, 150 North Ottawa Street, serves Joliet’s 150,362 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Joliet Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Joliet’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Joliet’s civic life grade?
D Joliet is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #691 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 Joliet.
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.