Photo: Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois · CC BY-SA 2.0West Dundee’s library is a branch of Fox River Valley Public Library District, which lends more per resident than 54% of systems its size
West Dundee’s library is the Randall Oaks Library, a branch of Fox River Valley Public Library District, which serves 71,530 people and lent 293K items last year.
What stands out about Randall Oaks Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind West Dundee’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, West Dundee is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #505 of 754 in Illinois. West Dundee is graded on two of the three inputs. West Dundee’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($79K–$132K) 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in West Dundee
3.8 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of West Dundee’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 West Dundee’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fox River Valley Public Library District serves 71,530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fox River Valley Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
293K 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 West Dundee’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 6 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
Randall Oaks Library, 500 North Randall Road, West Dundee.
No late fees. Good at every Fox River Valley Public Library District branch.
New in West Dundee? 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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Dundee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.2M 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 17,745 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Dundee | Randall Oaks Library fine-free | — | 61 | C |
| Elgin | Gail Borden Public Library District fine-free | — | 71 | D |
| East Dundee | Fox River Valley Public Library District fine-free | — | 65 | C |
| Sleepy Hollow | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Carpentersville | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Gilberts | 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. Randall Oaks Library is one branch of Fox River Valley Public Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 71,530 people it serves.
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 West Dundee
Does West Dundee have a public library?
Yes: Randall Oaks Library, 500 North Randall Road, is a branch of Fox River Valley Public Library District, which serves 71,530 people. The branch is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fox River Valley Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is West Dundee’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is West Dundee’s civic life grade?
C West Dundee is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #505 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 West Dundee.
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.