Photo: Andrew Martin · CC BY 3.0Lansing’s library lends 6.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Capital Area District Library serves 244,451 people in and around Lansing from 3 locations. Last year it lent 2.4M books, movies and e-books and logged 752K visits.
What stands out about Capital Area District Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lansing’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lansing is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #107 of 697 in Michigan. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #12. Lansing is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lansing’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 →
721 community nonprofits are registered in Lansing
6.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (143 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 36 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.0%
9.0% of Lansing’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 Lansing’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
739,715 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Capital Area District Library serves 244,451 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Capital Area District Library system. The library’s own count.
About 29 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.
3 places to borrow in Lansing
Capital Area District Library, 401 South Capitol Avenue, Lansing.
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 Capital Area District Library branch.
New in Lansing? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Capital Area District Library branches in Lansing
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lansing cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $37M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M 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 92,454 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Township | Delta Township District Library fine-free | 11.5 | 57 | B |
| East Lansing | East Lansing Public Library fine-free | 6.3 | 63 | A |
| Windsor Township | Dorothy Hull Library - Windsor Township fine-free | 2.9 | 33 | C+ |
| Lansing | Capital Area District Library fine-free | — | 63 | A |
| DeWitt Township | Dewitt District Library fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Delhi Township | Holt-Delhi Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | B− |
| Okemos | Hope Borbas Okemos Branch Library fine-free | — | 71 | — graded as part of its town |
| Holt | Holt-Delhi Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | — graded as part of its town |
| Lansing Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Edgemont Park | 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. Capital Area District Library serves 244,451 people in and around Lansing, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lansing.
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 Lansing
Does Lansing have a public library?
Yes. Capital Area District Library, 401 South Capitol Avenue, serves 244,451 people in and around Lansing (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Capital Area District 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 Lansing’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lansing’s civic life grade?
A Lansing is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #107 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 Lansing.
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.