Hines, Edward Jr., Veterans Administration Hospital Historic District · Photo: Chicago Daily News, Inc. · Public domainProviso Township’s library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Forest Park Public Library serves 14,339 people in and around Proviso Township. Last year it lent 103K print books and media and logged 99K visits.
What Proviso Township’s library is like
People come to Forest Park Public Library a lot
Forest Park Public Library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
Forest Park Public Library is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out. The buildings ↓
Proviso Township invests in its library
Forest Park Public Library spends $140 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 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.
What’s behind Proviso Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Proviso Township is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #583 of 754 in Illinois. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #207. Proviso Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Proviso Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($62K–$103K) 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 →
483 community nonprofits are registered in Proviso Township
3.3 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 (183 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 27 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Proviso Township’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 Proviso Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Forest Park Public Library serves 14,339 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Books and media off the shelf
103K 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 Proviso Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 76K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 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.
10 places to borrow in Proviso Township
Forest Park Public Library, 7555 Jackson Boulevard, Forest Park.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Proviso Township
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Proviso Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 5,050 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Proviso Township ranks 7th of 10 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York Township | Elmhurst Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 70 | B− |
| Lyons Township | Lagrange Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 67 | C |
| La Grange | Lagrange Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 67 | A− |
| River Forest Township | River Forest Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 67 | — graded with its twin city |
| River Forest | River Forest Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 67 | A+ |
| North Riverside | North Riverside Public Library District fine-free | 7.4 | 51 | B+ |
| Proviso Township | Forest Park Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 69 | C− |
| La Grange Park | Lagrange Park Public Library District fine-free | 5.7 | 61 | B− |
| Melrose Park | Melrose Park Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 42 | D− |
| Maywood | Maywood Public Library District | 0.6 | 55 | D |
| Leyden Township | Northlake Public Library District fine-free | — | 67 | 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 Proviso Township
Does Proviso Township have a public library?
Yes. Forest Park Public Library, 7555 Jackson Boulevard, serves 14,339 people in and around Proviso Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Forest Park Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Proviso Township’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 7.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Proviso Township’s civic life grade?
C− Proviso Township is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #583 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 Proviso Township.
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.