Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Cheboygan’s library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Cheboygan Area Public Library serves 13,525 people in and around Cheboygan. Last year it lent 68K books, movies and e-books and logged 87K visits.
The short version on Cheboygan’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 88% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 43%. The building also logs about 27 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 76% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Cheboygan Area Public Library serves 13,525 people in and around Cheboygan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Cheboygan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cheboygan is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #74 of 697 in Michigan. Cheboygan 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Cheboygan
5.3 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.5%
11.5% of Cheboygan’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 Cheboygan’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cheboygan Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cheboygan Area Public Library serves 13,525 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
68K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
21,334 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
Cheboygan Area Public Library, 100 South Bailey Street, Cheboygan.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cheboygan Area Public Library branch.
New in Cheboygan? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cheboygan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $773K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $773K 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 2,399 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheboygan | Cheboygan Area Public Library fine-free | — | 58 | A |
| Benton Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Inverness Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Beaugrand Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Cheboygan Area Public Library serves 13,525 people in and around Cheboygan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cheboygan.
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 Cheboygan
Does Cheboygan have a public library?
Yes. Cheboygan Area Public Library, 100 South Bailey Street, serves 13,525 people in and around Cheboygan (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cheboygan Area 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 Cheboygan’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cheboygan’s civic life grade?
A Cheboygan is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #74 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 Cheboygan.
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.