Photo: Dima Sergiyenko; Please attribute this image as the work of "DiscoverWithDima." · CC BY-SA 4.0Oak Brook’s library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Oak Brook Public Library serves Oak Brook’s 8,163 residents. Last year it lent 125K print books and media and logged 73K visits.
Oak Brook’s library, in brief
Oak Brook uses its library more than almost any town its size
Oak Brook Public Library logs 8.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Illinois for library use
Oak Brook ranks #15 of 260 Illinois towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 8.9 visits per resident, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Oak Brook invests in its library
Oak Brook Public Library spends $131 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it 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 Oak Brook’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Oak Brook is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #37 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Oak Brook’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
92 community nonprofits are registered in Oak Brook
11.5 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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Oak Brook’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 Oak Brook’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
125K 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 Oak Brook’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 89K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Oak Brook Public Library serves 8,163 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 4 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
Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Road, Oak Brook.
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 $2.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oak Brook cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 2,589 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Oak Brook ranks 5th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York Township | Elmhurst Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 70 | B− |
| Elmhurst | Elmhurst Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 70 | A− |
| Downers Grove | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | A− |
| Downers Grove Township | Downers Grove Public Library fine-free | 18.0 | 70 | C+ |
| Oak Brook | Oak Brook Public Library fine-free | 15.4 | 62 | A |
| Hinsdale | Hinsdale Public Library fine-free | 14.7 | 67 | A− |
| Lombard | Helen M. Plum Memorial Public Library District fine-free | 12.4 | 70 | B |
| Westmont | Westmont Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Proviso Township | Forest Park Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 69 | C− |
| Oakbrook Terrace | 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 Oak Brook
Does Oak Brook have a public library?
Yes. Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Road, serves Oak Brook’s 8,163 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oak Brook Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Oak Brook’s library?
It logged 8.9 visits and lent 15.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Oak Brook’s civic life grade?
A Oak Brook is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #37 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 Oak Brook.
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.