Photo: CL Minecraft · CC BY-SA 4.0Northbrook’s library lends 21 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Northbrook Public Library serves Northbrook’s 35,222 residents. Last year it lent 756K print books and media and logged 294K visits.
What Northbrook’s library is like
Northbrook ranks 2nd in Illinois for borrowing
Out of 259 Illinois towns with a library of their own, Northbrook comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #24 for library use. How it compares ↓
Northbrook uses its library more than almost any town its size
Northbrook Public Library logs 8.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 21 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Northbrook invests in its library
Northbrook Public Library spends $277 per resident a year, about seven times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (89%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Northbrook Public Library is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 218 items go out. The building ↓
Programs draw a crowd
28,000 people came to the library’s 734 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. 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 Northbrook’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Northbrook is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #44 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
218 community nonprofits are registered in Northbrook
6.3 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 (51 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 14 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.0%
9.0% of Northbrook’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 Northbrook’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
756K 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 Northbrook’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 229K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.3 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.
Northbrook Public Library serves 35,222 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 218 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Find it
Northbrook Public Library, 1201 Cedar Lane, Northbrook.
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 $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Northbrook cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $9.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.7M 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 20,329 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Northbrook ranks 2nd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Trier Township | Wilmette Public Library District fine-free | 23.6 | 71 | A |
| Northbrook | Northbrook Public Library fine-free | 21.5 | 67 | A |
| Northfield | Northfield Branch Library fine-free | 19.2 | 67 | C |
| Glencoe | Glencoe Public Library fine-free | 18.5 | 67 | A |
| Glenview | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B+ |
| Northfield Township | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B |
| Deerfield | Deerfield Public Library fine-free | 16.1 | 67 | A |
| Moraine Township | Highland Park Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 68 | A− |
| Wheeling | Indian Trails Public Library District fine-free | — | 71 | 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 Northbrook
Does Northbrook have a public library?
Yes. Northbrook Public Library, 1201 Cedar Lane, serves Northbrook’s 35,222 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northbrook Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Northbrook’s library?
It logged 8.3 visits and lent 21.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Northbrook’s civic life grade?
A Northbrook is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #44 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 Northbrook.
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.