Houghton Lake’s library lends 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Houghton Lake Public Library serves 14,906 people in and around Houghton Lake. Last year it lent 39K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
What stands out about Houghton Lake Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Houghton Lake’s civic life grade
Houghton Lake isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Houghton Lake Public Library serves 14,906 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Houghton Lake Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
39K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
13,047 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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, 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
Houghton Lake Public Library, 4431 West Houghton Lake Drive, Houghton Lake.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Houghton Lake Public Library branch.
New in Houghton Lake? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Houghton Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $636K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $818K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $636K 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 9,470 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houghton Lake | Houghton Lake Public Library fine-free | — | 46 | — graded as part of its town |
| Prudenville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Houghton Lake Public Library serves 14,906 people in and around Houghton Lake, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Houghton Lake.
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 Houghton Lake
Does Houghton Lake have a public library?
Yes. Houghton Lake Public Library, 4431 West Houghton Lake Drive, serves 14,906 people in and around Houghton Lake (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Houghton Lake 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 Houghton Lake’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Houghton Lake’s civic life grade?
Houghton Lake isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Houghton Lake.
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.