Baker and Lovering Store · Photo: 25or6to4 · CC BY-SA 4.0Joliet’s library runs 8.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Joliet Public Library serves 2,538 people in and around Joliet. Last year it lent 8,627 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,160 visits.
Joliet’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Joliet Public Library offered 21 programs last year, 8.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 66% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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; Joliet Public Library serves 2,538 people in and around Joliet, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Joliet’s civic life grade
Joliet isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
44% of borrowing is digital
8,627 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,836 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Joliet Public Library serves 2,538 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Joliet Public Library system. The library’s own count.
21 programs a year
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
Joliet Public Library, 211 E Front Street, Joliet.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Joliet Public Library branch.
New in Joliet? 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 $1.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Joliet cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $79K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $134K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $79K 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 1,146 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Joliet Public Library serves 2,538 people in and around Joliet, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Joliet.
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 Joliet
Does Joliet have a public library?
Yes. Joliet Public Library, 211 E Front Street, serves 2,538 people in and around Joliet (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Joliet Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Joliet’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Joliet’s civic life grade?
Joliet isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Joliet.
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.