Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 4.0Melrose Park’s library runs 2.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Melrose Park Public Library serves Melrose Park’s 24,796 residents. Last year it lent 25K print books and media and logged 48K visits.
What Melrose Park’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Melrose Park Public Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Melrose Park Public Library offered 69 programs last year, 2.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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 Melrose Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Melrose Park is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #725 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Melrose Park
1.3 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.1%
2.1% of Melrose Park’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 Melrose Park’s 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.
Melrose Park Public Library serves 24,796 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
25K 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 Melrose Park’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
69 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
Melrose Park Public Library, 801 North Broadway Ave., Melrose Park.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Melrose Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $801K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $436K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $801K 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 6,350 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Melrose Park ranks 7th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Forest | River Forest Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 67 | A+ |
| River Forest Township | River Forest Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 67 | — graded with its twin city |
| Proviso Township | Forest Park Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 69 | C− |
| Berkeley | Berkeley Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 54 | C+ |
| Franklin Park | Franklin Park Public Library District fine-free | 3.7 | 56 | D |
| River Grove | River Grove Public Library District | 1.5 | 56 | D |
| Melrose Park | Melrose Park Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 42 | D− |
| Bellwood | Bellwood Public Library fine-free | 0.9 | 58 | D |
| Maywood | Maywood Public Library District | 0.6 | 55 | D |
| Northlake | Northlake Public Library District fine-free | — | 67 | D− |
| Stone Park | 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 Melrose Park
Does Melrose Park have a public library?
Yes. Melrose Park Public Library, 801 North Broadway Ave., serves Melrose Park’s 24,796 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Melrose Park Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Melrose Park’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 1.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Melrose Park’s civic life grade?
D− Melrose Park is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #725 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 Melrose Park.
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.