Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0East Lansing’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
East Lansing Public Library serves East Lansing’s 47,741 residents. Last year it lent 299K books, movies and e-books and logged 205K visits.
What stands out about East Lansing’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind East Lansing’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Lansing is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #97 of 697 in Michigan. All three 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 →
288 community nonprofits are registered in East Lansing
6.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (35 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 15 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.1%
11.1% of East Lansing’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 East Lansing’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
East Lansing Public Library serves 47,741 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
299K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 85K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
86,540 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in East Lansing last year.
Find it
East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbot Road, East Lansing.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in East Lansing? 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 $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Lansing cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 20,357 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Lansing | East Lansing Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | 63 | A |
| Bath Township | Bath Township Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 53 | C |
| Lansing | Capital Area District Library fine-free | — | 63 | A |
| Meridian Township | Hope Borbas Okemos Branch Library fine-free | — | 71 | A |
| DeWitt Township | Dewitt District Library fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Haslett | Haslett Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | — graded as part of its town |
| Okemos | Hope Borbas Okemos Branch Library fine-free | — | 71 | — graded as part of its town |
| Lansing Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 East Lansing
Does East Lansing have a public library?
Yes. East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbot Road, serves East Lansing’s 47,741 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Lansing 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 East Lansing’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 6.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is East Lansing’s civic life grade?
A East Lansing is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #97 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 East Lansing.
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.