Photo: Leifrogers · CC BY-SA 3.0Plainfield’s library runs 28 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Plainfield Public Library District serves 79,063 people in and around Plainfield. Last year it lent 429K print books and media and logged 123K visits.
What Plainfield’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
66,000 people came to the library’s 2,245 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Plainfield Public Library District serves more than Plainfield
The library’s service area covers 79,063 people in and around Plainfield, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 Plainfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Plainfield is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #456 of 754 in Illinois. Plainfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($108K–$180K) 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 →
154 community nonprofits are registered in Plainfield
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (39 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.
7.1%
7.1% of Plainfield’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 Plainfield’s residents live; 2022.
About 20 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Plainfield Public Library District serves 79,063 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 138 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
429K 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 Plainfield’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 115K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.7 times last year, on average.
Find it
Plainfield Public Library District, 15025 South Illinois Street, Plainfield.
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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plainfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.9M 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 26,808 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Plainfield ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naperville | Naperville Public Library fine-free | 16.1 | 73 | A− |
| Bolingbrook | Fountaindale Public Library District fine-free | 9.3 | 72 | D |
| Plainfield | Plainfield Public Library District fine-free | 5.4 | 62 | C+ |
| Joliet | Joliet Public Library | 3.5 | 65 | 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 Plainfield
Does Plainfield have a public library?
Yes. Plainfield Public Library District, 15025 South Illinois Street, serves 79,063 people in and around Plainfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plainfield Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Plainfield’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 5.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Plainfield’s civic life grade?
C+ Plainfield is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #456 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 Plainfield.
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.