Photo: Teemu08 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Lyons’ library runs 1.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Lyons Public Library serves Lyons’s 10,817 residents. Last year it lent 33K print books and media and logged 7,700 visits.
What Lyons’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Lyons Public Library offered 20 programs last year, 1.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Lyons Public Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Lyons Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Six of the seven libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Lyons’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lyons is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #741 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Lyons’ 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$89K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Lyons
1.4 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of Lyons’ 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 Lyons’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lyons Public Library serves 10,817 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
33K 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 Lyons’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
20 programs a year
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
Lyons Public Library, 4209 Joliet Avenue, Lyons.
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 $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lyons cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $415K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $572K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $415K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 3,951 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lyons ranks 6th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McCook | Mccook Public Library District | 26.9 | 50 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lyons Township | Lagrange Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 67 | C |
| Riverside | Riverside Public Library fine-free | 11.1 | 65 | A+ |
| Riverside Township | Riverside Public Library fine-free | 11.1 | 65 | A− |
| Brookfield | Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library fine-free | 9.3 | 67 | A− |
| Lyons | Lyons Public Library | 3.0 | 55 | D− |
| Stickney Township | Prairie Trails Public Library District fine-free | 2.5 | 67 | D− |
| Summit | Summit Public Library District fine-free | 0.5 | 51 | D− |
| Forest View | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lyons Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Lyons
Does Lyons have a public library?
Yes. Lyons Public Library, 4209 Joliet Avenue, serves Lyons’ 10,817 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lyons Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lyons’ library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 3.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lyons’ civic life grade?
D− Lyons is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #741 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 Lyons.
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.