Photo: MinimalRM · CC BY-SA 3.0Lake Zurich’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Ela Area Public Library District serves 36,366 people in and around Lake Zurich. Last year it lent 633K print books and media and logged 205K visits.
Lake Zurich’s library, in brief
One of the busiest library systems its size
Ela Area Public Library District logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 17 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Ela Area Public Library District spends $179 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Lake Zurich branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Programs draw a crowd
30,000 people came to the system’s 1,025 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; Ela Area Public Library District serves 36,366 people in and around Lake Zurich, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lake Zurich’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Zurich is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #364 of 754 in Illinois. Lake Zurich is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lake Zurich’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Zurich
3.1 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Lake Zurich’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 Zurich’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
633K 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 Zurich’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Ela Area Public Library District serves 36,366 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 179 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ela Area Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 9 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Ela Area Public Library District, 275 Mohawk Trail, Lake Zurich.
No late fees. Good at every Ela Area Public Library District branch.
New in Lake Zurich? The Handbook →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 $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Zurich cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.5M 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 13,496 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Zurich | Ela Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 68 | C+ |
| Hawthorn Woods | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Kildeer | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Deer Park | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| North Barrington | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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.
- System-wide. Ela Area Public Library District serves 36,366 people in and around Lake Zurich, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lake Zurich.
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 Zurich
Does Lake Zurich have a public library?
Yes. Ela Area Public Library District, 275 Mohawk Trail, serves 36,366 people in and around Lake Zurich (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ela Area Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lake Zurich’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 17.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lake Zurich’s civic life grade?
C+ Lake Zurich is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #364 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 Zurich.
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.