Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Ironwood’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Ironwood Carnegie Library serves 5,312 people in and around Ironwood. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,350 visits.
Ironwood’s library, in brief
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 149 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 47 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Ironwood Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2011. Today’s library there has 2,744 square feet. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
28% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 69%. What your card is worth ↓
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; Ironwood Carnegie Library serves 5,312 people in and around Ironwood, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ironwood’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ironwood is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #197 of 697 in Michigan. Ironwood’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Ironwood
10.0 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.7%
12.7% of Ironwood’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 Ironwood’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2011
Ironwood Carnegie Library, 235 East Aurora Street, Ironwood.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ironwood Carnegie Library branch.
New in Ironwood? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Ironwood Carnegie Library
Ironwood Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 22, 2011. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the state level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Ironwood Carnegie Library is a library located at 235 E. Aurora Street in Ironwood, Michigan. It is the oldest continuously operated Carnegie Library in Michigan and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ironwood Carnegie Library serves 5,312 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ironwood Carnegie Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,297 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ironwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $172K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $356K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $172K 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 2,115 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ironwood | Ironwood Carnegie Library fine-free | — | 31 | A− |
| Hurley | Hurley Public Library fine-free | — | 35 | A+ |
| Kimball | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Oma | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Erwin Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ironwood Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ironwood Carnegie Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Ironwood Carnegie Library serves 5,312 people in and around Ironwood, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ironwood.
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 Ironwood
Does Ironwood have a public library?
Yes. Ironwood Carnegie Library, 235 East Aurora Street, serves 5,312 people in and around Ironwood (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ironwood Carnegie 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 Ironwood’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ironwood’s civic life grade?
A− Ironwood is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #197 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 Ironwood.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.