Photo: AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0Round Lake’s library logs 2.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Round Lake Area Public Library District serves 39,675 people in and around Round Lake. Last year it lent 154K print books and media and logged 115K visits.
The short version on Round Lake’s library
Open about 70 hours a week
The Round Lake branch is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 601 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 161 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Round Lake Area Public Library District spends $90 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (86%) 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; Round Lake Area Public Library District serves 39,675 people in and around Round Lake, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Round Lake’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Round Lake is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #726 of 754 in Illinois. Round Lake 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 ($84K–$140K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Round Lake
0.9 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of Round Lake’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 Round Lake’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Round Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.6M 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 11,860 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Round Lake Area Public Library District serves 39,675 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Round Lake Area Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
154K 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 Round Lake’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Round Lake Area Public Library District, 906 Hart Road, Round Lake.
No late fees. Good at every Round Lake Area Public Library District branch.
New in Round Lake? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant Township | Fox Lake Public Library District | 1.8 | 56 | D |
| Round Lake | Round Lake Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 70 | D− |
| Wauconda Township | Wauconda Area Public Library District fine-free | — | 65 | C+ |
| Round Lake Park | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Round Lake Beach | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Volo | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Long Lake | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. Round Lake Area Public Library District serves 39,675 people in and around Round Lake, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Round Lake.
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 Round Lake
Does Round Lake have a public library?
Yes. Round Lake Area Public Library District, 906 Hart Road, serves 39,675 people in and around Round Lake (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Round Lake Area Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Round Lake’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 3.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Round Lake’s civic life grade?
D− Round Lake is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #726 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 Round Lake.
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.