Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Inkster’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster serves Inkster’s 26,088 residents. Last year it lent 7,129 print books and media and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Inkster’s library
Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster is used less than most libraries its size
Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $7 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster offered 72 programs last year, 2.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 72 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 26 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Inkster’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Inkster is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Inkster’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster spends $7 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$49K) 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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in Inkster
2.4 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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.1%
3.1% of Inkster’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 Inkster’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster serves 26,088 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7,129 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Inkster last year.
Find it
Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster, 2500 Hamlin Dr., Inkster.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Inkster? 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 Inkster cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $194K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $174K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $194K 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 3,525 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Inkster ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westland | William P. Faust Public Library of Westland fine-free | 3.2 | 67 | D |
| Dearborn Heights | Dearborn Heights City Libraries fine-free | 2.6 | 54 | C |
| Inkster | Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster | 0.3 | 37 | D− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Inkster
Does Inkster have a public library?
Yes. Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster, 2500 Hamlin Dr., serves Inkster’s 26,088 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster 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 Inkster’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 0.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Inkster’s civic life grade?
D− Inkster is ahead of 2% 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 Inkster.
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.