Photo: JoeyBLS · Public domainLake Station’s library is a branch of Lake County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 79% of systems its size
Lake Station’s library is the Lake Station-New Chicago Branch, a branch of Lake County Public Library, which serves 251,041 people and lent 2.2M items last year.
What stands out about Lake Station-New Chicago Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lake Station’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Station is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #460 of 571 in Indiana. Lake Station is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lake Station’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$74K) 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Station
1.3 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Lake Station’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 Lake Station’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lake County Public Library serves 251,041 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 93 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lake County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
702,030 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 25 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
Lake Station-New Chicago Branch, 2007 Central Avenue, Lake Station.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lake County Public Library branch.
New in Lake Station? 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 $3.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Station cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $48M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M 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 89,038 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary | Gary Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 60 | C− |
| Calumet Township | Gary Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 60 | C− |
| Lake Station | Lake Station-New Chicago Branch | — | 48 | C |
| Hobart | Hobart Branch Library | — | 48 | C+ |
| Hobart Township | Hobart Branch Library | — | 48 | C+ |
| New Chicago | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- System-wide. Lake Station-New Chicago Branch is one branch of Lake County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 251,041 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 Lake Station
Does Lake Station have a public library?
Yes: Lake Station-New Chicago Branch, 2007 Central Avenue, is a branch of Lake County Public Library, which serves 251,041 people. The branch is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake County 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 Lake Station’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 8.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lake Station’s civic life grade?
C Lake Station is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #460 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 Lake Station.
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.