Worth’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Worth Public Library District serves Worth’s 10,974 residents. Last year it lent 26K print books and media and logged 15K visits.
Worth’s library, in brief
Well funded, but lightly used
Worth Public Library District spends $89 per resident, more than 87% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 81% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Worth Public Library District sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
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 Worth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Worth is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #684 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Worth’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Worth
1.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Worth’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 Worth’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Worth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $974K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $475K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $974K 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 2,942 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Worth Public Library District serves 10,974 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. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
26K 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 Worth’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
About 3 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
Worth Public Library District, 6917 West 111th Street, Worth.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Worth ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Heights | Palos Heights Public Library fine-free | 9.7 | 68 | B+ |
| Chicago Ridge | Chicago Ridge Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 65 | C |
| Worth | Worth Public Library District fine-free | 2.3 | 57 | D |
| Palos Hills | Green Hills Public Library District fine-free | — | 69 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Worth Public Library District counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Worth
Does Worth have a public library?
Yes. Worth Public Library District, 6917 West 111th Street, serves Worth’s 10,974 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Worth Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Worth’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Worth’s civic life grade?
D Worth is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #684 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 Worth.
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.