Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Highland Park’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Highland Park Library serves 8,642 people in and around Highland Park. Last year it lent 103K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
The short version on Highland Park’s library
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 300 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
47% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 47% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 53%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Highland Park invests in its library
Highland Park Library spends $105 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Highland Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Highland Park is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #172 of 539 in Texas. Highland Park’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 ($188K–$313K) 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 →
55 community nonprofits are registered in Highland Park
6.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (8 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.
5.6%
5.6% of Highland Park’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Highland Park’s residents live; 2022.
47% of borrowing is digital
103K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
48,631 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Highland Park Library serves 8,642 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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
Highland Park Library, 4700 Drexel Dr, Highland Park.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Highland Park? 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 $1.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Highland Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $903K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $903K 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 2,093 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Park | Highland Park Library | 11.9 | 42 | C+ |
| University Park | University Park Public Library | 5.6 | 42 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Highland Park Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Highland Park
Does Highland Park have a public library?
Yes. Highland Park Library, 4700 Drexel Dr, serves 8,642 people in and around Highland Park (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Highland Park 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 Highland Park’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 11.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Highland Park’s civic life grade?
C+ Highland Park is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #172 of 539 in Texas. 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 Highland Park.
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.