Photo: LisleLibraryDistrict · CC BY-SA 4.0Lisle’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Lisle Library District serves Lisle’s 30,281 residents. Last year it lent 352K print books and media and logged 152K visits.
The short version on Lisle’s library
Lisle uses its library more than almost any town its size
Lisle Library District logs 5 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 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Lisle’s library lends 12 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Downers Grove at 18. Libraries next door ↓
Lisle invests in its library
Lisle Library District spends $135 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Lisle Library District is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 101 items go out. The building ↓
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 Lisle’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lisle is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #271 of 754 in Illinois. Lisle is graded on two of the three inputs. Lisle’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
109 community nonprofits are registered in Lisle
4.7 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 (18 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.
7.2%
7.2% of Lisle’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 Lisle’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
352K 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 Lisle’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 122K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
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.
Lisle Library District serves 30,281 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 101 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 10 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
Lisle Library District, 777 Front Street, Lisle.
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 $1.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lisle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.1M 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 9,659 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lisle ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downers Grove | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | A− |
| Wheaton | Wheaton Public Library fine-free | 17.2 | 68 | A− |
| Naperville | Naperville Public Library fine-free | 16.1 | 73 | A− |
| Woodridge | Woodridge Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 70 | C |
| Lisle | Lisle Library District fine-free | 11.6 | 67 | 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.
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 Lisle
Does Lisle have a public library?
Yes. Lisle Library District, 777 Front Street, serves Lisle’s 30,281 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lisle Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lisle’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 11.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lisle’s civic life grade?
B Lisle is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #271 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 Lisle.
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.