Photo: vx700 · CC BY 3.0Summit’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Summit Public Library District serves Summit’s 11,163 residents. Last year it lent 5,193 books, movies and e-books and drew 1,116 people to its programs.
Summit’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Summit’s library lends 0.5 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by McCook at 27. Libraries next door ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Summit Public Library District sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people Summit Public Library District serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Summit Public Library District offered 97 programs last year, 8.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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 Summit’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Summit has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Summit is graded on two of the three inputs. Summit’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Summit’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Summit Public Library District spends $17 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Summit
1.6 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.3%
2.3% of Summit’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 Summit’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Summit Public Library District serves 11,163 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,193 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Summit last year.
Find it
Summit Public Library District, 6233 South Archer Road, Summit.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Summit cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $185K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $99K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $185K 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 1,420 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Summit ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McCook | Mccook Public Library District | 26.9 | 50 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lyons Township | Lagrange Public Library fine-free | 15.3 | 67 | C |
| Bedford Park | Bedford Park Public Library District fine-free | 8.2 | 66 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Lyons | Lyons Public Library | 3.0 | 55 | D− |
| Stickney Township | Prairie Trails Public Library District fine-free | 2.5 | 67 | D− |
| Summit | Summit Public Library District fine-free | 0.5 | 51 | D− |
| Forest View | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Summit Public Library District didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Summit
Does Summit have a public library?
Yes. Summit Public Library District, 6233 South Archer Road, serves Summit’s 11,163 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Summit Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Summit’s library?
It lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 97 programs that drew 1,116 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Summit’s civic life grade?
D− Summit has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Summit.
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.