John T. Woodhouse House · Photo: Appraiser · CC BY-SA 3.0Grosse Pointe Farms’ library logs 4.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Grosse Pointe Public Library serves 52,496 people in and around Grosse Pointe Farms. Last year it lent 622K books, movies and e-books and logged 257K visits.
Grosse Pointe Farms’s library, in brief
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans, more per resident than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 48%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Grosse Pointe Central Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2021. Today’s library there has 25,000 square feet. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Grosse Pointe Public Library spends $104 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) 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; Grosse Pointe Public Library serves 52,496 people in and around Grosse Pointe Farms, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Grosse Pointe Farms’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Grosse Pointe Farms is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #172 of 697 in Michigan. Grosse Pointe Farms is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Grosse Pointe Farms’ 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 →
60 community nonprofits are registered in Grosse Pointe Farms
6.1 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Grosse Pointe Farms’ 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 Grosse Pointe Farms’ residents live; 2022.
52% of borrowing is digital
622K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
325,119 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Grosse Pointe Public Library serves 52,496 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Grosse Pointe Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 6 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.
A National Register landmark since 2021
Grosse Pointe Public Library, 10 Kercheval Avenue, Grosse Pointe Farms.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Grosse Pointe Public Library branch.
New in Grosse Pointe Farms? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Grosse Pointe Central Library
Grosse Pointe Central Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 21, 2021. It is significant for its architecture at the local level.
The Grosse Pointe Public Library Central Branch, located at 10 Kercheval Avenue in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, is one of the buildings of the Grosse Pointe Public Library. Constructed in 1953, it is significant as one of the first major public commissions in the United States of architect Marcel Breuer. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grosse Pointe Farms cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.5M 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 24,953 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grosse Pointe Farms | Grosse Pointe Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | A− |
| Grosse Pointe Woods | Grosse Pointe Woods Public Library fine-free | — | 67 | A− |
| Grosse Pointe | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Village of Grosse Pointe Shores | 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. Grosse Pointe Public Library serves 52,496 people in and around Grosse Pointe Farms, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Grosse Pointe Farms.
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 Grosse Pointe Farms
Does Grosse Pointe Farms have a public library?
Yes. Grosse Pointe Public Library, 10 Kercheval Avenue, serves 52,496 people in and around Grosse Pointe Farms (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grosse Pointe 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 Grosse Pointe Farms’ library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Grosse Pointe Farms’ civic life grade?
A− Grosse Pointe Farms is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #172 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 Grosse Pointe Farms.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.