Photo: User:My name · CC BY 3.0Charlevoix’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Charlevoix Public Library serves 9,767 people in and around Charlevoix. Last year it lent 100K books, movies and e-books and logged 104K visits.
The short version on Charlevoix’s library
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Charlevoix Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Charlevoix Public Library spends $125 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (87%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
69% of the 424 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 120 were for children. 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; Charlevoix Public Library serves 9,767 people in and around Charlevoix, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Charlevoix’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Charlevoix is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. Charlevoix 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Charlevoix
7.5 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.4%
12.4% of Charlevoix’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 Charlevoix’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Charlevoix Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Charlevoix Public Library serves 9,767 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
100K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
30,302 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
Charlevoix Public Library, 220 West Clinton Street, Charlevoix.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Charlevoix Public Library branch.
New in Charlevoix? 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 $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Charlevoix cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 6,981 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Charlevoix Public Library serves 9,767 people in and around Charlevoix, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Charlevoix.
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 Charlevoix
Does Charlevoix have a public library?
Yes. Charlevoix Public Library, 220 West Clinton Street, serves 9,767 people in and around Charlevoix (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Charlevoix 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 Charlevoix’s library?
It logged 10.6 visits and lent 10.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Charlevoix’s civic life grade?
A+ Charlevoix is ahead of 97% 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 Charlevoix.
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.