Will County Historical Society Headquarters · Photo: Teemu08 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Lockport’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
White Oak Library District serves 76,850 people in and around Lockport. Last year it lent 496K books, movies and e-books and logged 214K visits.
What Lockport’s library is like
White Oak Library District serves more than Lockport
The library’s service area covers 76,850 people in and around Lockport, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 2,531 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 20 a week for ages 0–5. 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.
What’s behind Lockport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lockport is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #309 of 754 in Illinois. Lockport is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lockport’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 →
75 community nonprofits are registered in Lockport
2.8 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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.4%
9.4% of Lockport’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 Lockport’s residents live; 2022.
About 33 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
White Oak Library District serves 76,850 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
496K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 277K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
70,798 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Lockport Branch, 121 East Eighth Street, Lockport.
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 Lockport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.2M 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 54,823 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lockport | Lockport Branch fine-free | 6.5 | 61 | B− |
| Homer Glen | Homer Township Public Library District fine-free | 3.2 | 61 | C+ |
| Bonnie Brae | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fairmont | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Lockport Heights | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Lockport
Does Lockport have a public library?
Yes. White Oak Library District, 121 East Eighth Street, serves 76,850 people in and around Lockport (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is White Oak Library District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lockport’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lockport’s civic life grade?
B− Lockport is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #309 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 Lockport.
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.