Photo: Theemausoliam · CC BY-SA 4.0Norwood Park Township’s library logs 6.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Eisenhower Public Library District serves 24,360 people in and around Norwood Park Township. Last year it lent 178K print books and media and logged 148K visits.
Norwood Park Township’s library, in brief
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Eisenhower Public Library District charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
Eisenhower Public Library District spends $198 per resident a year, about five times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
The Norwood Park Township branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Eisenhower Public Library District serves 24,360 people in and around Norwood Park Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Norwood Park Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Norwood Park Township is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #471 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; Norwood Park Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$113K) 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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Norwood Park Township
1.7 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 (10 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Norwood Park Township’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 Norwood Park Township’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Norwood Park Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $4.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.8M 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 11,561 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Eisenhower Public Library District serves 24,360 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Eisenhower Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
178K 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 Norwood Park Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Eisenhower Public Library District, 4613 North Oketo Avenue, Harwood Heights.
Good at every Eisenhower Public Library District branch.
New in Norwood Park Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Ridge | Park Ridge Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 68 | A− |
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Norwood Park Township | Eisenhower Public Library District | — | 65 | C |
| Harwood Heights | Eisenhower Public Library District | — | 65 | D |
| Leyden Township | Northlake Public Library District fine-free | — | 67 | D− |
| Norridge | 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.
- System-wide. Eisenhower Public Library District serves 24,360 people in and around Norwood Park Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Norwood Park Township.
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 Norwood Park Township
Does Norwood Park Township have a public library?
Yes. Eisenhower Public Library District, 4613 North Oketo Avenue, serves 24,360 people in and around Norwood Park Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eisenhower Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Norwood Park Township’s library?
It logged 6.1 visits and lent 7.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Norwood Park Township’s civic life grade?
C Norwood Park Township is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #471 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 Norwood Park Township.
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.