Photo: Crosbiesmith · CC BY-SA 4.0Palos Park’s library logs 5.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Palos Park Public Library serves Palos Park’s 4,899 residents. Last year it lent 30K print books and media and logged 28K visits.
What Palos Park’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Palos Park’s library lends 6.1 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Palos Heights at 9.7. Libraries next door ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 315 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 98 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Palos Park invests in its library
Palos Park Public Library spends $102 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (88%) 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 Palos Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Palos Park is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #263 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; Palos Park’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Palos Park
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Palos Park’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 Palos Park’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palos Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $499K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $571K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $499K 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 1,698 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Palos Park Public Library serves 4,899 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
30K 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 Palos Park’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
About 2 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
Palos Park Public Library, 12330 South Forest Glen Boulevard, Palos Park.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Palos Park ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Heights | Palos Heights Public Library fine-free | 9.7 | 68 | B+ |
| Lemont | Lemont Public Library District fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | A− |
| Lemont Township | Lemont Public Library District fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | B+ |
| Orland Park | Orland Park Public Library | 6.6 | 72 | C+ |
| Palos Park | Palos Park Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | 57 | B |
| Palos Hills | Green Hills Public Library District fine-free | — | 69 | D |
| Palos Township | Green Hills Public Library District fine-free | — | 69 | C− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Palos Park Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Palos Park
Does Palos Park have a public library?
Yes. Palos Park Public Library, 12330 South Forest Glen Boulevard, serves Palos Park’s 4,899 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Palos Park Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Palos Park’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 6.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Palos Park’s civic life grade?
B Palos Park is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #263 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 Palos Park.
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.