Photo: n8huckins · CC BY-SA 4.0Mackinac Island’s library logs 27 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Mackinac Island Public Library serves Mackinac Island’s 583 residents. Last year it lent 2,900 books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
Mackinac Island’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
790 cards for 583 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 99% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 45%. The building also logs about 17 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 72% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
45% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 54%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Mackinac Island Public Library serves 583 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 34 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Mackinac Island invests in its library
Mackinac Island Public Library spends $161 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Mackinac Island’s civic life grade
Mackinac Island isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mackinac Island Public Library serves 583 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,900 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
876 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
21 programs a year
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.
Find it
Mackinac Island Public Library, 7549 Main Street, Mackinac Island.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mackinac Island? 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 Mackinac Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $94K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $72K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $94K 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 790 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mackinac Island | Mackinac Island Public Library fine-free | 5.0 | 34 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bois Blanc Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| St. Ignace 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 count everyone. Mackinac Island’s 15,615 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Mackinac Island Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Mackinac Island
Does Mackinac Island have a public library?
Yes. Mackinac Island Public Library, 7549 Main Street, serves Mackinac Island’s 583 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mackinac Island Public 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 Mackinac Island’s library?
It logged 26.8 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mackinac Island’s civic life grade?
Mackinac Island isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Mackinac Island.
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.