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Mackinaw District Public Library

Mackinaw Township’s library lends 6.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size

Mackinaw District Public Library serves 4,530 people in and around Mackinaw Township. Last year it lent 28K print books and media and logged 19K visits.

117 South Main Street, Mackinaw 61755 · about 44 hours a week
A−Civic lifeAhead of 75% of U.S. towns · #147 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
28K
6.1 per resident
Visits a year
19K
4.1 per resident · Above typical (3)
Programs & events
160
about 3 a week · 1,716 attended
Cardholders
27%
1,206 cards
Open
44 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Mackinaw District Public Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Mackinaw Township’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mackinaw Township is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #147 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.

A−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Mackinaw Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 75%
FewerMore
Illinois towns we grade (754)Ahead of 81%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $77K–$128K (6,718)Ahead of 78%

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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. Mackinaw Township is small (4,231 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

16 community nonprofits are registered in Mackinaw Township

3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation30.66 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans30.66 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services20.45 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education30.66 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other30.66 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (3 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.

Volunteering

11.6%

11.6% of Mackinaw Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Mackinaw Township’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 4.1 visits · typical 3Higher than 66%
Borrowing per resident 6.1 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 74%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 60%
Programs offered 35.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Higher than 51%
Cardholders 27% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 75%
Spending $56 per resident · typical $43Higher than 66%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Mackinaw District Public Library serves 4,530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mackinaw District Public Library system. The library’s own count.

19K
visits
4.1 per resident
28K
loans, print + digital
6.1 per resident
160
programs & events
1,716 attended
1,206
library cards
27% of people served
Every open hour13items borrowed
Every week33people at a program
Every day2Wi-Fi sessions
3 staff (full-time equivalent)2 public computers
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

28K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

The survey has no count of children’s loans for Mackinaw Township’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Mackinaw Township →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–541
Ages 6–1141
Teens6
Adults72
All ages0
Little ones
0.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

1,716
people at programs
160
programs
The building

Find it

Mackinaw District Public Library, 117 South Main Street, Mackinaw.

44
hours open a week
5,400
square feet
With a card

No late fees. Good at every Mackinaw District Public Library branch.

New in Mackinaw Township? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.94 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mackinaw Township cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
2
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$408
a year at retail prices · $34 a month

Who pays for it
$56 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $252K.

Local taxes 92%State 5%Gifts & other 3%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $488K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $252K 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 1,206 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Little Mackinaw TownshipH.A. Peine Public Library District9.740B
Danvers TownshipDanvers Township Library fine-free6.745A−
Mackinaw TownshipMackinaw District Public Library fine-free—44A−
Deer Creek TownshipDeer Creek District Library—24C+
Tremont TownshipTremont District Library fine-free—50A−

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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
  • System-wide. Mackinaw District Public Library serves 4,530 people in and around Mackinaw Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mackinaw Township.

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 Mackinaw Township

Does Mackinaw Township have a public library?

Yes. Mackinaw District Public Library, 117 South Main Street, serves 4,530 people in and around Mackinaw Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Mackinaw District Public Library fine-free?

Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Mackinaw Township’s library?

It logged 4.1 visits and lent 6.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Mackinaw Township’s civic life grade?

A− Mackinaw Township is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #147 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Mackinaw Township.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.