Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Skokie’s library lends 21 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Skokie Public Library serves Skokie’s 67,824 residents. Last year it lent 1.4M print books and media and logged 569K visits.
What Skokie’s library is like
Skokie ranks 3rd in Illinois for borrowing
Out of 259 Illinois towns with a library of their own, Skokie comes 3rd for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #22 for library use. How it compares ↓
Skokie uses its library more than almost any town its size
Skokie Public Library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 21 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 75 hours a week
Skokie Public Library is open about 75 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 295 items go out. The building ↓
Skokie invests in its library
Skokie Public Library spends $183 per resident a year, about five times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
60,000 people came to the library’s 1,845 programs last year: 0.9 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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 Skokie’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Skokie is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #167 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; Skokie’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
233 community nonprofits are registered in Skokie
3.5 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 (94 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 17 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Skokie’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 Skokie’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
1.4M 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 Skokie’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 348K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.2 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Skokie Public Library serves 67,824 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 295 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 17 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
Skokie Public Library, 5215 Oakton Street, Skokie.
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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Skokie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $12M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12M 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 44,681 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Skokie ranks 3rd of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Trier Township | Wilmette Public Library District fine-free | 23.6 | 71 | A |
| Wilmette | Wilmette Public Library District fine-free | 23.6 | 71 | A |
| Skokie | Skokie Public Library fine-free | 21.3 | 75 | B+ |
| Niles Township | Skokie Public Library fine-free | 21.3 | 75 | C+ |
| Glenview | Glenview Public Library fine-free | 17.4 | 72 | B+ |
| Morton Grove | Morton Grove Public Library fine-free | 10.2 | 69 | C+ |
| Lincolnwood | Lincolnwood Public Library District fine-free | 10.0 | 65 | B+ |
| Evanston | Evanston Public Library fine-free | 8.9 | 62 | A |
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Niles | Niles-Maine District Library fine-free | — | 64 | 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 Skokie
Does Skokie have a public library?
Yes. Skokie Public Library, 5215 Oakton Street, serves Skokie’s 67,824 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 75 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Skokie Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Skokie’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 21.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Skokie’s civic life grade?
B+ Skokie is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #167 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 Skokie.
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.