Photo: Matt Morse · CC BY-SA 3.0Michigan Township’s library runs 29 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Michigan City Public Library serves 35,965 people in and around Michigan Township. Last year it lent 90K books, movies and e-books and logged 94K visits.
What Michigan Township’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
31,000 people came to the system’s 1,055 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Michigan City Public Library spends $96 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) 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; Michigan City Public Library serves 35,965 people in and around Michigan Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Michigan Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Michigan Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #387 of 571 in Indiana. Michigan Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$73K) 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 →
95 community nonprofits are registered in Michigan Township
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (29 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.
7.4%
7.4% of Michigan Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Michigan Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Michigan City Public Library serves 35,965 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Michigan City Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
90K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,559 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Michigan City Public Library, 100 East 4th Street, Michigan City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Michigan City Public Library branch.
New in Michigan Township? The Handbook →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 Michigan Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 17,448 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan Township | Michigan City Public Library | — | 62 | C+ |
| Coolspring Township | Coolspring Branch Library fine-free | — | 57 | C+ |
| Michigan City | Michigan City Public Library | — | 62 | C+ |
| Springfield Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. Michigan City Public Library serves 35,965 people in and around Michigan Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Michigan 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 Michigan Township
Does Michigan Township have a public library?
Yes. Michigan City Public Library, 100 East 4th Street, serves 35,965 people in and around Michigan Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Michigan City Public 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 Michigan Township’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Michigan Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Michigan Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #387 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Michigan Township.
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.