Photo: Flavinista · CC BY-SA 4.0Ann Arbor’s library lends 26 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Ann Arbor District Library serves 177,696 people in and around Ann Arbor from 4 locations. Last year it lent 6.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.4M visits.
What Ann Arbor’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Ann Arbor District Library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 26 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 12 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 34% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
132,000 people came to the system’s 1,877 programs last year: 0.7 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
The Ann Arbor branch is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
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; Ann Arbor District Library serves 177,696 people in and around Ann Arbor, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ann Arbor’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ann Arbor is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #38 of 697 in Michigan. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #3. Ann Arbor is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
820 community nonprofits are registered in Ann Arbor
6.7 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 (127 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 54 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.5%
11.5% of Ann Arbor’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 12.4% in the typical Michigan 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 Ann Arbor’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 379 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ann Arbor District Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ann Arbor District Library serves 177,696 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,082,886 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 21 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.
4 places to borrow in Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor District Library, 343 South Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ann Arbor District Library branch.
New in Ann Arbor? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Ann Arbor District Library branches in Ann Arbor
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $5.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ann Arbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $19M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $106M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $19M 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 58,648 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor District Library fine-free | — | 69 | A |
| Pittsfield Township | Pittsfield Branch Library fine-free | — | 69 | A− |
| Ann Arbor Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Scio Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Barton Hills | 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.
- System-wide. Ann Arbor District Library serves 177,696 people in and around Ann Arbor, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ann Arbor.
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 Ann Arbor
Does Ann Arbor have a public library?
Yes. Ann Arbor District Library, 343 South Fifth Avenue, serves 177,696 people in and around Ann Arbor (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ann Arbor District Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ann Arbor’s library?
It logged 8.1 visits and lent 38.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Ann Arbor’s civic life grade?
A Ann Arbor is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #38 of 697 in Michigan. 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 Ann Arbor.
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.