City of Milwaukee · Photo: Bill Herd · Public domainFrankfort’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Benzie Shores District Library serves 3,772 people in and around Frankfort. Last year it lent 61K books, movies and e-books and logged 41K visits.
What Frankfort’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Benzie Shores District Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 36% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 200 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 68 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Benzie Shores District Library spends $87 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) 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; Benzie Shores District Library serves 3,772 people in and around Frankfort, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Frankfort’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Frankfort is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. Frankfort is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Frankfort’s 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Frankfort
13.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.3%
10.3% of Frankfort’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 Frankfort’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Benzie Shores 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.
Benzie Shores District Library serves 3,772 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
61K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
16,149 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
Benzie Shores District Library, 630 Main Street, Frankfort.
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 Benzie Shores District Library branch.
New in Frankfort? 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 $3.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Frankfort cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $327K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $327K 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 3,078 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frankfort | Benzie Shores District Library fine-free | — | 44 | A+ |
| Elberta | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Gilmore Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Crystal Lake 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. Benzie Shores District Library serves 3,772 people in and around Frankfort, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Frankfort.
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 Frankfort
Does Frankfort have a public library?
Yes. Benzie Shores District Library, 630 Main Street, serves 3,772 people in and around Frankfort (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Benzie Shores 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 Frankfort’s library?
It logged 10.8 visits and lent 16.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Frankfort’s civic life grade?
A+ Frankfort is ahead of 97% 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 Frankfort.
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.