Justice’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Justice Public Library District serves Justice’s 14,384 residents. Last year it lent 17K print books and media and logged 30K visits.
What Justice’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Justice’s library lends 1.2 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Bedford Park at 8.2. Libraries next door ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Justice Public Library District sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 153 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Justice Public Library District logs about 162 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 13 public computers. That’s 4.1 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Justice’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Justice is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #713 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Justice Public Library District spends $26 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 ($43K–$71K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Justice
0.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.2%
4.2% of Justice’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 Justice’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Justice Public Library District serves 14,384 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
17K 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 Justice’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 45K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
About 2 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.
Find it
Justice Public Library District, 7641 South Oak Grove Avenue, Justice.
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 $1.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Justice cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $374K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $474K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $374K 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 4,223 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Justice ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford Park | Bedford Park Public Library District fine-free | 8.2 | 66 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hodgkins | Hodgkins Public Library District | 7.2 | 58 | B+ |
| Bridgeview | Bridgeview Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 48 | D |
| Justice | Justice Public Library District fine-free | 1.2 | 55 | D− |
| Hickory Hills | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Willow Springs | None of its own | — | — | 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. Justice Public Library District 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 Justice
Does Justice have a public library?
Yes. Justice Public Library District, 7641 South Oak Grove Avenue, serves Justice’s 14,384 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Justice Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Justice’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Justice’s civic life grade?
D− Justice is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #713 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 Justice.
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.