Berrien Springs’ library logs 2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Berrien Springs Community Library serves 9,245 people in and around Berrien Springs. Last year it lent 48K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
What’s behind Berrien Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Berrien Springs is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. Berrien Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Berrien Springs’ count of community nonprofits 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Berrien Springs
3.7 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Berrien Springs’ 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 Berrien Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Berrien Springs Community Library serves 9,245 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Berrien Springs Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
48K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,817 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Berrien Springs Community Library, 215 West Union Street, Berrien Springs.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Berrien Springs Community Library branch.
New in Berrien Springs? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Berrien Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $369K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $752K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $369K 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 3,332 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berrien Springs | Berrien Springs Community Library | — | 54 | B |
| Oronoko Township | Berrien Springs Community Library | — | 54 | B− |
| Berrien Township | Eau Claire District Library | — | 46 | 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.
- System-wide. Berrien Springs Community Library serves 9,245 people in and around Berrien Springs, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Berrien Springs.
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 Berrien Springs
Does Berrien Springs have a public library?
Yes. Berrien Springs Community Library, 215 West Union Street, serves 9,245 people in and around Berrien Springs (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Berrien Springs Community 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 Berrien Springs’ library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Berrien Springs’ civic life grade?
B Berrien Springs is ahead of 57% 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 Berrien Springs.
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.