Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Baldwin’s library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Pathfinder Community Library serves 7,067 people in and around Baldwin. Last year it logged 46K visits.
What stands out about Pathfinder Community Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Baldwin’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Baldwin is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. Baldwin 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Baldwin
4.9 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.4%
10.4% of Baldwin’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 Baldwin’s residents live; 2022.
A year at Pathfinder Community Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pathfinder Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: print loans and books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Pathfinder Community Library serves 7,067 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
About 2 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.
Find it
Pathfinder Community Library, 812 Michigan Avenue, Baldwin.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pathfinder Community Library branch.
New in Baldwin? 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 Baldwin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $193K.
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 4,375 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: print loans and books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Pathfinder Community Library serves 7,067 people in and around Baldwin, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Baldwin.
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 Baldwin
Does Baldwin have a public library?
Yes. Pathfinder Community Library, 812 Michigan Avenue, serves 7,067 people in and around Baldwin (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pathfinder Community 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 Baldwin’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Baldwin’s civic life grade?
A Baldwin is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Baldwin.
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.