Photo: Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois · CC BY-SA 2.0Libertyville’s library logs 7.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Cook Memorial Public Library District serves 61,297 people in and around Libertyville. Last year it lent 720K print books and media and logged 434K visits.
The short version on Libertyville’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
Cook Memorial Public Library District logs 7.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Cook Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001. Today’s library there has 44,200 square feet. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Cook Memorial Public Library District spends $171 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 Libertyville branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Programs draw a crowd
48,000 people came to the system’s 1,475 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 90% 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; Cook Memorial Public Library District serves 61,297 people in and around Libertyville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Libertyville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Libertyville is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #82 of 754 in Illinois. Libertyville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Libertyville’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 →
135 community nonprofits are registered in Libertyville
6.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Libertyville’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 Libertyville’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 93 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cook Memorial Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cook Memorial Public Library District serves 61,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Books and media off the shelf
720K 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 Libertyville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
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.
A National Register landmark since 2001
Cook Memorial Public Library District, 413 North Milwaukee Avenue, Libertyville.
No late fees. Good at every Cook Memorial Public Library District branch.
New in Libertyville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Cook Memorial Library
Cook Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 16, 2001. It is significant for its education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Ansel B. Cook House, is a historic house museum in Libertyville, Illinois, United States. It was built as a Victorian house for contractor and politician Ansel B. Cook in 1878. In his will, Cook donated the home to be used as a public library, although it remained for many years the residence of Cook's longer-lived widow.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Libertyville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 24,774 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mundelein | Fremont Public Library District fine-free | 12.4 | 67 | C− |
| Libertyville | Cook Memorial Public Library District fine-free | — | 68 | A |
| Grayslake | Grayslake Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 63 | B+ |
| Vernon Hills | Aspen Drive Library fine-free | — | 68 | B |
| Mettawa | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Green Oaks | 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.
- System-wide. Cook Memorial Public Library District serves 61,297 people in and around Libertyville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Libertyville.
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 Libertyville
Does Libertyville have a public library?
Yes. Cook Memorial Public Library District, 413 North Milwaukee Avenue, serves 61,297 people in and around Libertyville (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cook Memorial Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Libertyville’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 11.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Libertyville’s civic life grade?
A Libertyville is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #82 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 Libertyville.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.