Photo: Humbles Art · CC BY-SA 3.0Benton Harbor’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Benton Harbor Public Library serves 23,477 people in and around Benton Harbor. Last year it lent 33K print books and media and logged 28K visits.
The short version on Benton Harbor’s library
Benton Harbor Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Benton Harbor Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $24 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Benton Harbor Public Library offered 206 programs last year, 8.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
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; Benton Harbor Public Library serves 23,477 people in and around Benton Harbor, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Benton Harbor’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Benton Harbor is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #437 of 697 in Michigan. Benton Harbor is graded on two of the three inputs. Benton Harbor’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
53 community nonprofits are registered in Benton Harbor
5.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (20 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.
6.0%
6.0% of Benton Harbor’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 Benton Harbor’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Benton Harbor Public Library serves 23,477 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Benton Harbor Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
33K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Benton Harbor Public Library, 213 East Wall Street, Benton Harbor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Benton Harbor Public Library branch.
New in Benton Harbor? 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 Benton Harbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $562K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $551K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $562K 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 6,007 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton Harbor | Benton Harbor Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| St. Joseph | Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library | — | 53 | A− |
| Benton Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Benton Heights | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Fair Plain | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| St. Joseph Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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.
- System-wide. Benton Harbor Public Library serves 23,477 people in and around Benton Harbor, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Benton Harbor.
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 Benton Harbor
Does Benton Harbor have a public library?
Yes. Benton Harbor Public Library, 213 East Wall Street, serves 23,477 people in and around Benton Harbor (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Benton Harbor Public 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 Benton Harbor’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Benton Harbor’s civic life grade?
B− Benton Harbor is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #437 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 Benton Harbor.
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.