Fraser’s library lends 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Fraser Public Library serves Fraser’s 14,726 residents. Last year it lent 19K print books and media and logged 37K visits.
The short version on Fraser’s library
Well funded, but lightly used
Fraser Public Library spends $113 per resident, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 60% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 72%. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Fraser Public Library holds 58,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Fraser’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fraser is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #608 of 697 in Michigan. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
47 community nonprofits are registered in Fraser
3.2 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Fraser’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 Fraser’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fraser cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $312K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 7,183 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fraser Public Library serves 14,726 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
19K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 58K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
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, 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 Fraser last year.
Find it
Fraser Public Library, 16330 East Fourteen Mile Road, Fraser.
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 Fraser? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roseville | Roseville Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 53 | D− |
| Fraser | Fraser Public Library fine-free | 1.3 | 53 | C |
| Clinton Township | Clinton-Macomb Public Library | — | 72 | D |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Fraser
Does Fraser have a public library?
Yes. Fraser Public Library, 16330 East Fourteen Mile Road, serves Fraser’s 14,726 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fraser 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 Fraser’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 1.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Fraser’s civic life grade?
C Fraser is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #608 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 Fraser.
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.