Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Lombard’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District serves Lombard’s 44,585 residents. Last year it lent 555K print books and media and logged 200K visits.
The short version on Lombard’s library
Lombard is a town of borrowers
Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 4.3 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Open about 70 hours a week
Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 153 items go out. The building ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 128,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.3 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Lombard invests in its library
Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District spends $115 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 ↓
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 Lombard’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lombard is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #278 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold 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 →
161 community nonprofits are registered in Lombard
3.7 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 (39 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Lombard’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 Lombard’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
555K 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 Lombard’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 128K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.3 times last year, on average.
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.
Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District serves 44,585 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 153 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 9 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
Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District, 411 South Main Street, Lombard.
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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lombard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.1M 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 17,609 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lombard ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Ellyn | Glen Ellyn Public Library fine-free | 19.3 | 69 | A |
| Downers Grove | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | A− |
| Oak Brook | Oak Brook Public Library fine-free | 15.4 | 62 | A |
| Lombard | Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District fine-free | 12.4 | 70 | B |
| Villa Park | Villa Park Public Library fine-free | 10.7 | 61 | B+ |
| Addison | Addison Public Library fine-free | 6.4 | 66 | C− |
| Oakbrook Terrace | None of its own | — | — | D |
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 Lombard
Does Lombard have a public library?
Yes. Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District, 411 South Main Street, serves Lombard’s 44,585 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lombard’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 12.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lombard’s civic life grade?
B Lombard is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #278 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 Lombard.
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.