Photo: Jesse Sallak · CC BY-SA 4.0Mancelona’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. Last year it lent 7,567 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,773 visits.
Mancelona’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, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mancelona’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mancelona is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. Mancelona is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Mancelona’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Mancelona
3.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.1%
14.1% of Mancelona’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’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? 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 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mancelona Township Library serves 4,886 people in and around Mancelona, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mancelona.
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
Does Mancelona have a public library?
Yes. Mancelona Township Library, 202 West State Street, serves 4,886 people in and around Mancelona (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’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’s civic life grade?
A− Mancelona is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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.
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.