The Tinley Park Public Library serves the communities of Tinley Park (2010 population 56,703) and Orland Hills (2010 population 7,149) in the US state of Illinois. The building has 58,700 square feet of space, and as of 2015–2016, houses 158,308 books, 15,454 videos/DVDs, 14,289 audio recordings, 289 print serials, 1,377 video games, and 68,902 children’s holdings. Additionally, the library subscribes to 50 databases, and in 2015–2016 circulated 651,571 items to cardholders.
History
The Tinley Park Public Library’s history dates back to 1956, when a temporary building, provided by George Hartman was erected at 6871 W. 171st Street, a site donated by the Tinley Development Co. Shortly thereafter, in 1957, the Friends of the Library group was formed to help support the operations of the library. The original, temporary building was replaced with a new, building in 1959. At this time, the library—staffed entirely by volunteers and maintained by donations—had seating room for 18 persons.
In 1966, the Tinley Park Library became a member of the Suburban Library system, and in 1974 a new library building opened at 17101 71st Ave. The building contained 25,000 square feet of space, but only the upper floor was used initially. The lower level opened to the public in 1982, when it was dedicated as the new Children’s department. This building housed the library’s collections for forty years, until the present-day site at 7851 Timber Dr. opened in 2004.
