Photo: Nlpictures · Public domainNew Lenox’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
New Lenox Public Library District serves 40,094 people in and around New Lenox. Last year it lent 207K print books and media and logged 122K visits.
What New Lenox’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
56,000 people came to the library’s 609 programs last year: 1.4 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
New Lenox Public Library District serves more than New Lenox
The library’s service area covers 40,094 people in and around New Lenox, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 New Lenox’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Lenox is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #376 of 754 in Illinois. New Lenox is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; New Lenox’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($106K–$176K) 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 →
90 community nonprofits are registered in New Lenox
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (14 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.
8.0%
8.0% of New Lenox’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 New Lenox’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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.
New Lenox Public Library District serves 40,094 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
207K 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 New Lenox’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 150K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
Find it
New Lenox Public Library District, 120 Veterans Parkway, New Lenox.
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 $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Lenox cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 12,686 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
New Lenox borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Lenox | New Lenox Public Library District fine-free | 5.2 | 59 | C+ |
| Mokena | Mokena Community Public Library District fine-free | 4.2 | 65 | B |
| Joliet | Joliet Public Library | 3.5 | 65 | D |
| Ingalls Park | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 New Lenox
Does New Lenox have a public library?
Yes. New Lenox Public Library District, 120 Veterans Parkway, serves 40,094 people in and around New Lenox (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Lenox Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is New Lenox’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 5.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is New Lenox’s civic life grade?
C+ New Lenox is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #376 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 New Lenox.
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.