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Roach, W.R., Cannery Warehouse and Office BuildingRoach, W.R., Cannery Warehouse and Office Building · Photo: Jsokolo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Aitkin Memorial District Library

Croswell’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size

Aitkin Memorial District Library serves 7,173 people in and around Croswell. Last year it logged 14K visits.

111 North Howard Avenue, Croswell 48422 · about 45 hours a week
A−Civic lifeAhead of 82% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (810) 679-3627 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
—
Not reported for 2024
Visits a year
14K
2 per resident · Below typical (3)
Programs & events
96
about 2 a week · 1,395 attended
Cardholders
20%
1,466 cards
Open
45 hrs
a week at this branch
Civic life grade

What’s behind Croswell’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Croswell is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Croswell is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Croswell’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.

A−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Croswell’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureB−Community nonprofits3.5 per 1,000 residents · MI towns 3.1 · U.S. 3.7A+Volunteering17.6% of adults 25–44 · MI towns 12.4% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 82%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $41K–$69K (6,383)Ahead of 79%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Croswell is small (2,263 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

9 community nonprofits are registered in Croswell

3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.44 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation31.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans20.60 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.44 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.16 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

17.6%

17.6% of Croswell’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 Croswell’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2 visits · typical 3Lower than 67%
Digital borrowing 0.6 e-items · typical 1Lower than 67%
Kids’ borrowing 0.7 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 78%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 79%
Programs offered 13.4 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 80%
Cardholders 20% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 85%
Spending $37 per resident · typical $43Lower than 58%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Aitkin Memorial District Library serves 7,173 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

A year at Aitkin Memorial District Library

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Aitkin Memorial District Library system. The library’s own count.

14K
visits
2 per resident
96
programs & events
1,395 attended
1,466
library cards
20% of people served
Every week27people at a program
Every day12Wi-Fi sessions
3 staff (full-time equivalent)10 public computers

Not reported for 2024: print loans and books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.

Kids & programs

96 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Croswell →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–520
Ages 6–110
Teens0
Adults0
All ages76
Little ones
0.4

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

4,745
kids’ books & media borrowed
1,395
people at programs
96
programs
The building

Find it

Aitkin Memorial District Library, 111 North Howard Avenue, Croswell.

Directions(810) 679-3627
45
hours open a week
12,000
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Aitkin Memorial District Library branch.

New in Croswell? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Croswell cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$37 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $267K.

Local taxes 93%State 2%Gifts & other 5%

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 1,466 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Not reported for 2024: print loans and books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
  • System-wide. Aitkin Memorial District Library serves 7,173 people in and around Croswell, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Croswell.

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 Croswell

Does Croswell have a public library?

Yes. Aitkin Memorial District Library, 111 North Howard Avenue, serves 7,173 people in and around Croswell (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Aitkin Memorial District 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 Croswell’s library?

It logged 2.0 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Croswell’s civic life grade?

A− Croswell is ahead of 82% 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 Croswell.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.