Photo: Teemu08 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lake Forest’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lake Forest Library serves Lake Forest’s 19,367 residents. Last year it lent 232K print books and media and logged 157K visits.
The short version on Lake Forest’s library
Lake Forest uses its library more than almost any town its size
Lake Forest Library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Illinois for library use
Lake Forest ranks #25 of 260 Illinois towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 8.1 visits per resident, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Lake Forest invests in its library
Lake Forest Library spends $198 per resident a year, about five times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Lake Forest Library is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out. The building ↓
A place to get online
Lake Forest Library logs about 879 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 47 public computers. That’s 17 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 Lake Forest’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Forest is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #20 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
147 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Forest
7.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.3%
10.3% of Lake Forest’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 Forest’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lake Forest Library serves 19,367 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Books and media off the shelf
232K 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 Forest’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 120K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
About 6 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
Lake Forest Library, 360 East Deerpath Road, Lake Forest.
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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Forest cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 7,282 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lake Forest ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. 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 |
| Moraine Township | Highland Park Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 68 | A− |
| Highland Park | Highland Park Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 68 | A |
| Lake Forest | Lake Forest Library fine-free | 12.0 | 67 | A+ |
| Shields Township | Lake Forest Library fine-free | 12.0 | 67 | C |
| Highwood | Highwood Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 38 | C+ |
| Lincolnshire | Vernon Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 69 | A− |
| Mettawa | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bannockburn | 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.
- 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 Forest
Does Lake Forest have a public library?
Yes. Lake Forest Library, 360 East Deerpath Road, serves Lake Forest’s 19,367 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake Forest Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lake Forest’s library?
It logged 8.1 visits and lent 12.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lake Forest’s civic life grade?
A+ Lake Forest is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 Forest.
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.