Photo: Jamie Begin · CC BY-SA 4.0Chelsea’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Chelsea District Library serves 16,126 people in and around Chelsea. Last year it lent 309K books, movies and e-books and logged 123K visits.
What Chelsea’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Chelsea District Library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Chelsea District Library spends $123 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Chelsea District Library serves 16,126 people in and around Chelsea, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Chelsea’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chelsea is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #28 of 697 in Michigan. Chelsea 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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Chelsea
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.6%
13.6% of Chelsea’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 Chelsea’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
309K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
91,739 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Chelsea District Library serves 16,126 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 97 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chelsea District Library system. The library’s own count.
About 4 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
Chelsea District Library, 221 South Main Street, Chelsea.
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 Chelsea District Library branch.
New in Chelsea? 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 $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chelsea cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 6,874 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | Chelsea District Library fine-free | — | 61 | A+ |
| Lima Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Sylvan 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. Chelsea District Library serves 16,126 people in and around Chelsea, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chelsea.
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 Chelsea
Does Chelsea have a public library?
Yes. Chelsea District Library, 221 South Main Street, serves 16,126 people in and around Chelsea (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chelsea District 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 Chelsea’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 19.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Chelsea’s civic life grade?
A+ Chelsea is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 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 Chelsea.
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.