Photo: HammondMan · CC BY-SA 4.0Hammond’s library lends 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Hammond Public Library serves 77,879 people in and around Hammond. Last year it lent 148K books, movies and e-books and logged 150K visits.
What Hammond’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Hammond Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Hammond Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out. The building ↓
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 Hammond’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hammond is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #568 of 571 in Indiana. Hammond is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hammond’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$69K) 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 →
156 community nonprofits are registered in Hammond
2.0 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 (83 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.5%
4.5% of Hammond’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Hammond’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hammond Public Library serves 77,879 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. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
148K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 166K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
46,731 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Hammond Public Library, 564 State Street, Hammond.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hammond? The Handbook →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 Hammond cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 29,148 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hammond ranks 6th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiting | Whiting Public Library fine-free | 12.9 | 51 | C− |
| Thornton Township | Homewood Public Library District | 7.5 | 67 | D |
| Chicago | Chicago Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 72 | C− |
| Calumet Township | Gary Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 60 | C− |
| Gary | Gary Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 60 | C− |
| Hammond | Hammond Public Library | 1.9 | 64 | D− |
| North Township | Hammond Public Library | 1.9 | 64 | C− |
| Calumet City | Calumet City Public Library | 0.7 | 53 | D |
| East Chicago | East Chicago Public Library | 0.5 | 60 | D− |
| Highland | Highland Branch Library | — | 48 | B− |
| Munster | Munster Branch | — | 58 | A− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Hammond
Does Hammond have a public library?
Yes. Hammond Public Library, 564 State Street, serves 77,879 people in and around Hammond (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hammond Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hammond’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hammond’s civic life grade?
D− Hammond is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #568 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Hammond.
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.