Photo: Oakus53 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lemont’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lemont Public Library District serves 23,182 people in and around Lemont. Last year it lent 166K print books and media and logged 107K visits.
The short version on Lemont’s library
Open about 66 hours a week
Lemont Public Library District is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out. The building ↓
Lemont Public Library District serves more than Lemont
The library’s service area covers 23,182 people in and around Lemont, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Lemont invests in its library
Lemont Public Library District spends $90 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. 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 Lemont’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lemont is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #134 of 754 in Illinois. Lemont is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lemont’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 →
96 community nonprofits are registered in Lemont
5.4 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 (23 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Lemont’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 Lemont’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lemont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 6,943 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Lemont Public Library District serves 23,182 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
166K 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 Lemont’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 62K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
About 8 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
Lemont Public Library District, 50 East Wend Street, Lemont.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Lemont ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downers Grove Township | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | C+ |
| Woodridge | Woodridge Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 70 | C |
| Lemont | Lemont Public Library District fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | A− |
| Lemont Township | Lemont Public Library District fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | B+ |
| Romeoville | White Oak Library District fine-free | 6.5 | 61 | D− |
| Palos Park | Palos Park Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | 57 | B |
| 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.
- 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 Lemont
Does Lemont have a public library?
Yes. Lemont Public Library District, 50 East Wend Street, serves 23,182 people in and around Lemont (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lemont Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lemont’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 7.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lemont’s civic life grade?
A− Lemont is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #134 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 Lemont.
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.