Photo: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA · CC BY 2.0Park Forest’s library lends 2.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Park Forest Public Library serves Park Forest’s 21,687 residents. Last year it lent 50K print books and media and logged 51K visits.
What stands out about Park Forest’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Park Forest’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Park Forest is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #570 of 754 in Illinois. Park Forest’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
92 community nonprofits are registered in Park Forest
4.4 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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.0%
3.0% of Park Forest’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 Park Forest’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Park Forest Public Library serves 21,687 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
50K 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 Park Forest’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 49K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
About 6 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
Park Forest Public Library, 400 Lakewood Boulevard, Park Forest.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Park Forest cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $923K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 4,675 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Park Forest ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matteson | Matteson Public Library fine-free | 3.4 | 65 | C+ |
| Park Forest | Park Forest Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 48 | C− |
| Richton Park | Richton Park Public Library District fine-free | 2.2 | 54 | C+ |
| University Park | University Park Public Library District | 1.5 | 52 | D |
| Monee Township | University Park Public Library District | 1.5 | 52 | C− |
| Chicago Heights | Chicago Heights Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 37 | D− |
| Olympia Fields | 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.
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 Park Forest
Does Park Forest have a public library?
Yes. Park Forest Public Library, 400 Lakewood Boulevard, serves Park Forest’s 21,687 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Park Forest Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Park Forest’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 2.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Park Forest’s civic life grade?
C− Park Forest is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #570 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 Park Forest.
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.