Manistique East Breakwater Light · Photo: Chris Beechler · CC BY-SA 4.0Manistique’s library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Manistique School & Public Library serves 7,918 people in and around Manistique. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
What Manistique’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
79% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 16%. What your card is worth ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 74% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 23%. The building also logs about 8 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Manistique School & Public Library offered 53 programs last year, 6.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 53 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 27 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 60% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Manistique School & Public Library serves 7,918 people in and around Manistique, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Manistique’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Manistique is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #34 of 697 in Michigan. Manistique is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Manistique
6.2 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.3%
12.3% of Manistique’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 Manistique’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Manistique School & Public Library serves 7,918 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Manistique School & Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,189 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
53 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
Manistique School & Public Library, 100 North Cedar Street, Manistique.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Manistique School & Public Library branch.
New in Manistique? 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 $1.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Manistique cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $221K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $358K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $221K 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 3,125 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manistique | Manistique School & Public Library fine-free | — | 46 | A+ |
| Manistique Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Hiawatha Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Manistique School & Public Library serves 7,918 people in and around Manistique, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Manistique.
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 Manistique
Does Manistique have a public library?
Yes. Manistique School & Public Library, 100 North Cedar Street, serves 7,918 people in and around Manistique (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Manistique School & 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 Manistique’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Manistique’s civic life grade?
A+ Manistique is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #34 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 Manistique.
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.