Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Iron Mountain’s library logs 3.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Dickinson County Library serves 25,947 people in and around Iron Mountain. Last year it lent 119K books, movies and e-books and logged 81K visits.
The short version on Iron Mountain’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 59%. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Iron Mountain branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 306 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week 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; Dickinson County Library serves 25,947 people in and around Iron Mountain, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Iron Mountain’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Iron Mountain is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #40 of 697 in Michigan. Iron Mountain is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Iron Mountain’s 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 →
77 community nonprofits are registered in Iron Mountain
10.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.7%
9.7% of Iron Mountain’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 Iron Mountain’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dickinson County Library serves 25,947 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dickinson County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
119K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,593 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Dickinson County Library, 401 Iron Mountain Street, Iron Mountain.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dickinson County Library branch.
New in Iron Mountain? 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 $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Iron Mountain cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 10,077 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Mountain | Dickinson County Library fine-free | — | 64 | A |
| Breitung Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Kingsford | 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. Dickinson County Library serves 25,947 people in and around Iron Mountain, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Iron Mountain.
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 Iron Mountain
Does Iron Mountain have a public library?
Yes. Dickinson County Library, 401 Iron Mountain Street, serves 25,947 people in and around Iron Mountain (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dickinson County 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 Iron Mountain’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Iron Mountain’s civic life grade?
A Iron Mountain is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 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 Iron Mountain.
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.