Steger’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District serves 13,869 people in and around Steger. Last year it lent 22K print books and media and logged 11K visits.
What stands out about Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Steger’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Steger is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #696 of 754 in Illinois. Steger is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Steger’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Steger
2.6 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.0%
4.0% of Steger’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 Steger’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District serves 13,869 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
22K 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 Steger’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District, 54 East 31st Street, Steger.
No late fees. Good at every Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District branch.
New in Steger? The Handbook →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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Steger cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $418K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $424K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $418K 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 5,011 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauk Village | Nancy L. Mcconathy Public Library District | 0.7 | 44 | D |
| Chicago Heights | Chicago Heights Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 37 | D− |
| Steger | Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District fine-free | — | 48 | D |
| Crete | Crete Public Library District fine-free | — | 56 | B |
| Bloom Township | Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library District fine-free | — | 51 | C− |
| Crete Township | Crete Public Library District fine-free | — | 56 | C− |
| South Chicago Heights | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District serves 13,869 people in and around Steger, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Steger.
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 Steger
Does Steger have a public library?
Yes. Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District, 54 East 31st Street, serves 13,869 people in and around Steger (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Steger’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Steger’s civic life grade?
D Steger is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #696 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 Steger.
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.