Herbert A. Dilg House · Photo: Zol87 from Chicago, Illinois, USA · CC BY-SA 4.0Morton Grove’s library runs 48 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Morton Grove Public Library serves Morton Grove’s 25,297 residents. Last year it lent 257K print books and media and logged 122K visits.
Morton Grove’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Morton Grove Public Library ran 1,221 programs last year, about 23 a week. That’s 48 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 22,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Morton Grove uses its library more than almost any town its size
Morton Grove Public Library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
Morton Grove Public Library is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out. The building ↓
Morton Grove invests in its library
Morton Grove Public Library spends $122 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) 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 Morton Grove’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Morton Grove is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #399 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; Morton Grove’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($83K–$139K) 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 →
55 community nonprofits are registered in Morton Grove
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.4%
7.4% of Morton Grove’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 Morton Grove’s residents live; 2022.
About 14 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 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Morton Grove Public Library serves 25,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
257K 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 Morton Grove’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 118K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
Find it
Morton Grove Public Library, 6140 Lincoln Avenue, Morton Grove.
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 Morton Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 9,454 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Morton Grove ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Morton Grove
Does Morton Grove have a public library?
Yes. Morton Grove Public Library, 6140 Lincoln Avenue, serves Morton Grove’s 25,297 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morton Grove Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Morton Grove’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 10.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Morton Grove’s civic life grade?
C+ Morton Grove is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #399 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 Morton Grove.
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.