Photo: Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0Hudsonville’s library lends 9.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville serves 12,373 people in and around Hudsonville. Last year it lent 149K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.
Hudsonville’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville lends 9.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. 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; Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville serves 12,373 people in and around Hudsonville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hudsonville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hudsonville is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #566 of 697 in Michigan. Hudsonville is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Hudsonville’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$114K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Hudsonville
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of Hudsonville’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 Hudsonville’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville serves 12,373 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
149K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
29,949 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville, 3338 Van Buren Street, Hudsonville.
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 Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville branch.
New in Hudsonville? 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 $4.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hudsonville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $514K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $514K 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 3,368 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamestown Township | Patmos Library fine-free | 18.3 | 39 | C |
| Georgetown Township | Georgetown Township Public Library | 12.5 | 63 | B− |
| Hudsonville | Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville fine-free | — | 45 | C+ |
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. Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville serves 12,373 people in and around Hudsonville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hudsonville.
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 Hudsonville
Does Hudsonville have a public library?
Yes. Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville, 3338 Van Buren Street, serves 12,373 people in and around Hudsonville (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville 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 Hudsonville’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 12.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hudsonville’s civic life grade?
C+ Hudsonville is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #566 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 Hudsonville.
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.