Photo: Angelika Lindner · CC BY-SA 3.0Lansing’s library runs 366 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library serves Lansing’s 1,419 residents. Last year it lent 2,646 print books and media and logged 7,595 visits.
What Lansing’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 70% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 22%. The building also logs about 12 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library ran 520 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 366 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library serves 1,419 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Lansing’s civic life grade
Lansing 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 →
520 programs a year
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lansing last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library serves 1,419 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,646 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 8,637 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Find it
Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library, 515 Main St., Lansing.
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 Lansing cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $60K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $57K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $60K 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 1,100 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lansing | Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 30 | — graded with its twin city |
| Freeman | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Lansing
Does Lansing have a public library?
Yes. Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library, 515 Main St., serves Lansing’s 1,419 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lansing’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 1.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lansing’s civic life grade?
Lansing 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 Lansing.
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.