Photo: Jesse Sallak · CC BY-SA 4.0Mancelona Township’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mancelona Township Library serves 4,886 people in and around Mancelona Township. Last year it lent 7,567 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,773 visits.
Mancelona Township’s library, in brief
Mancelona Township Library is used less than most libraries its size
Mancelona Township Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mancelona Township Library offered 15 programs last year, 3.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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; Mancelona Township Library serves 4,886 people in and around Mancelona Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mancelona Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mancelona Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #482 of 697 in Michigan. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Mancelona Township
3.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.2%
14.2% of Mancelona Township’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 Mancelona Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Mancelona Township Library serves 4,886 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mancelona Township Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
7,567 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
691 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
15 programs a year
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
Mancelona Township Library, 202 West State Street, Mancelona.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mancelona Township Library branch.
New in Mancelona Township? 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 $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mancelona Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $105K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $126K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $105K 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 3,287 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mancelona Township | Mancelona Township Library | — | 41 | B− |
| Chestonia Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Custer Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Coldsprings Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Star Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Blue Lake Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hayes Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Lakes of the North | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Mancelona Township Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Mancelona Township Library serves 4,886 people in and around Mancelona Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mancelona Township.
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 Mancelona Township
Does Mancelona Township have a public library?
Yes. Mancelona Township Library, 202 West State Street, serves 4,886 people in and around Mancelona Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mancelona Township Library 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 Mancelona Township’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mancelona Township’s civic life grade?
B− Mancelona Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #482 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 Mancelona Township.
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.