Elk Rapids’ library logs 7.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Elk Rapids District Library serves 5,482 people in and around Elk Rapids. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
What Elk Rapids’s library is like
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Elk Rapids District Library logs 7.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
4,662 cards for 5,482 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 275 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 111 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Elk Rapids District Library serves 5,482 people in and around Elk Rapids, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Elk Rapids’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Elk Rapids is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. Elk Rapids is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Elk Rapids’ count of community nonprofits 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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Elk Rapids
20.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Elk 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 Elk Rapids’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Elk Rapids District Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Elk Rapids District Library serves 5,482 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,286 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
Elk Rapids District Library, 300 Isle of Pines, Elk 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 Elk Rapids District Library branch.
New in Elk 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 $1.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elk Rapids cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $393K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $766K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $393K 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 4,662 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Rapids | Elk Rapids District Library fine-free | — | 52 | A |
| Elk Rapids Township | Elk Rapids District Library fine-free | — | 52 | 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. Elk Rapids District Library serves 5,482 people in and around Elk Rapids, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Elk 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 Elk Rapids
Does Elk Rapids have a public library?
Yes. Elk Rapids District Library, 300 Isle of Pines, serves 5,482 people in and around Elk Rapids (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elk Rapids 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 Elk Rapids’ library?
It logged 7.4 visits and lent 8.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Elk Rapids’ civic life grade?
A Elk Rapids is ahead of 94% 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 Elk 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.