Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Gladstone’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Gladstone Area School & Public Library serves 11,421 people in and around Gladstone. Last year it lent 40K print books and media and logged 49K visits.
The short version on Gladstone’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Gladstone Area School & Public Library offered 12 programs last year, 1.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 53%. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 77% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 70% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Gladstone Area School & Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Gladstone Area School & Public Library serves 11,421 people in and around Gladstone, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Gladstone’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gladstone is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #55 of 697 in Michigan. Gladstone is graded on two of the three inputs. Both 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Gladstone
5.7 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.9%
11.9% of Gladstone’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 Gladstone’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Gladstone Area School & Public Library serves 11,421 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Gladstone Area School & Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
40K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
12 programs a year
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
Gladstone Area School & Public Library, 300 South Tenth Street, Gladstone.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Gladstone Area School & Public Library branch.
New in Gladstone? 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 $4.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gladstone cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $113K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $543K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $113K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 2,782 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gladstone | Gladstone Area School & Public Library | — | 43 | A |
| Escanaba Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Brampton Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Ensign Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Gladstone Area School & Public Library serves 11,421 people in and around Gladstone, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Gladstone.
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 Gladstone
Does Gladstone have a public library?
Yes. Gladstone Area School & Public Library, 300 South Tenth Street, serves 11,421 people in and around Gladstone (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gladstone Area School & Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gladstone’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 3.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Gladstone’s civic life grade?
A Gladstone is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #55 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 Gladstone.
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.