Photo: Teemu08 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lake Bluff’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Lake Bluff Public Library serves Lake Bluff’s 5,616 residents. Last year it lent 75K print books and media and logged 48K visits.
What Lake Bluff’s library is like
Lake Bluff uses its library more than almost any town its size
Lake Bluff Public Library logs 8.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
16,000 people came to the library’s 223 programs last year: 2.8 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Illinois for library use
Lake Bluff ranks #20 of 260 Illinois towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 8.6 visits per resident, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Lake Bluff out-borrows every town next door
At 13 loans per resident, Lake Bluff leads the four towns here. The closest is Shields Township, at 12. Libraries next door ↓
Lake Bluff invests in its library
Lake Bluff Public Library spends $200 per resident a year, about five times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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 Lake Bluff’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Bluff is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #49 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lake Bluff’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Bluff
8.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (3 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.
8.1%
8.1% of Lake Bluff’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 Lake Bluff’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lake Bluff Public Library serves 5,616 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
75K 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 Lake Bluff’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 1.7 times last year, on average.
Find it
Lake Bluff Public Library, 123 East Scranton Avenue, Lake Bluff.
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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Bluff cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M 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 1,064 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lake Bluff borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Bluff | Lake Bluff Public Library fine-free | 13.4 | 58 | A |
| Shields Township | Lake Forest Library fine-free | 12.0 | 67 | C |
| Lake Forest | Lake Forest Library fine-free | 12.0 | 67 | A+ |
| North Chicago | North Chicago Public Library fine-free | 0.3 | 60 | D− |
| Libertyville Township | Cook Memorial Public Library District fine-free | — | 68 | B |
| Knollwood | 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 Lake Bluff
Does Lake Bluff have a public library?
Yes. Lake Bluff Public Library, 123 East Scranton Avenue, serves Lake Bluff’s 5,616 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake Bluff Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lake Bluff’s library?
It logged 8.6 visits and lent 13.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lake Bluff’s civic life grade?
A Lake Bluff is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Lake Bluff.
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.