Island City Historic District · Photo: Catherine Ottarson · CC BY-SA 3.0Eaton Rapids’ library lends 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Eaton Rapids Area District Library serves 12,421 people in and around Eaton Rapids. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
Eaton Rapids’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Eaton Rapids Area District Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% 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; Eaton Rapids Area District Library serves 12,421 people in and around Eaton Rapids, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Eaton Rapids’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Eaton Rapids is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #240 of 697 in Michigan. Eaton Rapids is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Eaton Rapids’ count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Eaton Rapids
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.8%
11.8% of Eaton Rapids’ 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 Eaton Rapids’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Eaton Rapids Area District Library serves 12,421 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Eaton Rapids Area District Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,189 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Eaton Rapids Area District Library, 220 South Main Street, Eaton Rapids.
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 Eaton Rapids Area District Library branch.
New in Eaton Rapids? 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 $1.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Eaton Rapids cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $452K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $580K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $452K 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 2,338 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eaton Rapids | Eaton Rapids Area District Library fine-free | — | 41 | B+ |
| Hamlin Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Eaton Rapids 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.
- System-wide. Eaton Rapids Area District Library serves 12,421 people in and around Eaton Rapids, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Eaton Rapids.
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 Eaton Rapids
Does Eaton Rapids have a public library?
Yes. Eaton Rapids Area District Library, 220 South Main Street, serves 12,421 people in and around Eaton Rapids (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eaton Rapids Area 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 Eaton Rapids’ library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Eaton Rapids’ civic life grade?
B+ Eaton Rapids is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #240 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 Eaton Rapids.
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.