Photo: Village of Oak Lawn · CC BY 2.0Oak Lawn’s library runs 21 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Oak Lawn Public Library serves Oak Lawn’s 58,362 residents. Last year it lent 349K print books and media and logged 203K visits.
The short version on Oak Lawn’s library
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Oak Lawn Public Library is above the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Oak Lawn out-borrows every town next door
At 6 loans per resident, Oak Lawn leads the seven towns here. The closest is Chicago Ridge, at 5.9. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
Oak Lawn Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 102 items go out. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 1,240 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 215 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Oak Lawn invests in its library
Oak Lawn Public Library spends $90 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) 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 Lawn’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Oak Lawn is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #561 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; Oak Lawn’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($63K–$105K) 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 →
127 community nonprofits are registered in Oak Lawn
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 (41 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Oak Lawn’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 Lawn’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oak Lawn cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.2M 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 28,347 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Oak Lawn Public Library serves 58,362 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 102 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
349K 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 Lawn’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 184K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
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 Lawn Public Library, 9427 South Raymond Avenue, Oak Lawn.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Oak Lawn borrows the most per resident of the 7 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Lawn | Oak Lawn Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 65 | C− |
| Chicago Ridge | Chicago Ridge Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 65 | C |
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Bridgeview | Bridgeview Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 48 | D |
| Burbank | Prairie Trails Public Library District fine-free | 2.5 | 67 | D |
| Stickney Township | Prairie Trails Public Library District fine-free | 2.5 | 67 | D− |
| Hometown | Hometown Public Library | 1.5 | 41 | C− |
| Alsip | Alsip-Merrionette Park Library District fine-free | — | 68 | C− |
| Worth Township | Alsip-Merrionette Park Library District fine-free | — | 68 | 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 Lawn
Does Oak Lawn have a public library?
Yes. Oak Lawn Public Library, 9427 South Raymond Avenue, serves Oak Lawn’s 58,362 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oak Lawn Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Oak Lawn’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 6.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Oak Lawn’s civic life grade?
C− Oak Lawn is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #561 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 Lawn.
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.