Photo: Nmaviano · CC BY-SA 3.0Riverside’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Riverside Public Library serves Riverside’s 9,298 residents. Last year it lent 103K print books and media and logged 84K visits.
What Riverside’s library is like
Riverside uses its library more than almost any town its size
Riverside Public Library logs 9.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Illinois for library use
Riverside ranks #14 of 260 Illinois towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 9.1 visits per resident, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Riverside invests in its library
Riverside Public Library spends $137 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
Riverside Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out. The building ↓
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 Riverside’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Riverside is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #15 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Riverside
6.5 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.8%
11.8% of Riverside’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 Riverside’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Riverside Public Library serves 9,298 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
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 Riverside’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 57K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
About 7 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
Riverside Public Library, 1 Burling Road, Riverside.
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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Riverside cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 4,332 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Riverside ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyons Township | Lagrange Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 67 | C |
| Riverside | Riverside Public Library fine-free | 11.1 | 65 | A+ |
| Riverside Township | Riverside Public Library fine-free | 11.1 | 65 | A− |
| Brookfield | Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library fine-free | 9.3 | 67 | A− |
| North Riverside | North Riverside Public Library District fine-free | 7.4 | 51 | B+ |
| Lyons | Lyons Public Library | 3.0 | 55 | 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 Riverside
Does Riverside have a public library?
Yes. Riverside Public Library, 1 Burling Road, serves Riverside’s 9,298 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Riverside Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Riverside’s library?
It logged 9.1 visits and lent 11.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Riverside’s civic life grade?
A+ Riverside is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #15 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 Riverside.
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.