George Clayson House · Photo: G LeTourneau · CC BY-SA 3.0Palatine’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Palatine Public Library District serves 89,395 people in and around Palatine from 2 locations. Last year it lent 1M print books and media and logged 360K visits.
What Palatine’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
Palatine Public Library District lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Palatine branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
A well-funded system
Palatine Public Library District spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) 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; Palatine Public Library District serves 89,395 people in and around Palatine, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Palatine’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palatine is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #538 of 754 in Illinois. Palatine is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Palatine’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
203 community nonprofits are registered in Palatine
3.1 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 (51 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Palatine’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 Palatine’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
1M 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 Palatine’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
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.
Palatine Public Library District serves 89,395 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 125 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Palatine Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 8 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.
2 places to borrow in Palatine
Palatine Public Library District, 700 North North Court, Palatine.
No late fees. Good at every Palatine Public Library District branch.
New in Palatine? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Palatine Public Library District branches in Palatine
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palatine cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $8.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.3M 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 37,713 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington Heights | Arlington Heights Memorial Library fine-free | 17.4 | 77 | B |
| Wheeling Township | Arlington Heights Memorial Library fine-free | 17.4 | 77 | D |
| Schaumburg | Schaumburg Township District Library fine-free | 15.0 | 69 | C− |
| Rolling Meadows | Rolling Meadows Library fine-free | 5.9 | 71 | C− |
| Palatine Township | Rolling Meadows Library fine-free | 5.9 | 71 | C+ |
| Palatine | Palatine Public Library District fine-free | — | 68 | C |
| Inverness | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Deer Park | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Palatine Public Library District serves 89,395 people in and around Palatine, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Palatine.
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 Palatine
Does Palatine have a public library?
Yes. Palatine Public Library District, 700 North North Court, serves 89,395 people in and around Palatine (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Palatine Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Palatine’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 11.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Palatine’s civic life grade?
C Palatine is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #538 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 Palatine.
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.