M-27-Au Sable River Bridge · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Grayling’s library lends 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Crawford County Library serves 12,988 people in and around Grayling. Last year it lent 20K print books and media and logged 46K visits.
What stands out about Crawford County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Grayling’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Grayling is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. Grayling 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Grayling
6.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of Grayling’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 Grayling’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Crawford County Library serves 12,988 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Crawford County Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
20K 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.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Crawford County Library, 201 Plum Street, Grayling.
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 Crawford County Library branch.
New in Grayling? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grayling cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $550K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $318K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $550K 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 5,244 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Crawford County Library serves 12,988 people in and around Grayling, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Grayling.
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 Grayling
Does Grayling have a public library?
Yes. Crawford County Library, 201 Plum Street, serves 12,988 people in and around Grayling (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Crawford County 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 Grayling’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 1.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Grayling’s civic life grade?
A Grayling is ahead of 93% 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 Grayling.
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.