Harper Woods’ library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Harper Woods Public Library serves Harper Woods’s 15,492 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,963 visits.
Harper Woods’s library, in brief
Harper Woods Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Harper Woods Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Harper Woods Public Library offered 43 programs last year, 2.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Harper Woods Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Harper Woods Public Library holds 54,000 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 Harper Woods’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Harper Woods is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #684 of 697 in Michigan. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Harper Woods’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$81K) 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Harper Woods
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
4.3%
4.3% of Harper Woods’ 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 Harper Woods’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Harper Woods Public Library serves 15,492 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 54K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,961 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
43 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Harper Woods last year.
Find it
Harper Woods Public Library, 19601 Harper Avenue, Harper Woods.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Harper Woods? 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 Harper Woods cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $572K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $312K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $572K 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 3,131 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Harper Woods ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastpointe | Eastpointe Memorial Library fine-free | 2.2 | 48 | D |
| Harper Woods | Harper Woods Public Library | 1.1 | 36 | D |
| Detroit | Detroit Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 51 | D |
| Grosse Pointe Woods | Grosse Pointe Woods Public Library fine-free | — | 67 | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Harper Woods
Does Harper Woods have a public library?
Yes. Harper Woods Public Library, 19601 Harper Avenue, serves Harper Woods’ 15,492 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harper Woods 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 Harper Woods’ library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Harper Woods’ civic life grade?
D Harper Woods is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #684 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 Harper Woods.
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.