Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Montague’s library is a branch of Muskegon Area District Library, which lends more per resident than 63% of systems its size
Montague’s library is the Montague Branch Library, a branch of Muskegon Area District Library, which serves 107,920 people and lent 575K items last year.
What stands out about Montague Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Montague’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Montague is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. Montague 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Montague
4.0 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.
13.4%
13.4% of Montague’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 Montague’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Muskegon Area District Library serves 107,920 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Muskegon Area District Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
575K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
130,461 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 17 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.
Find it
Montague Branch Library, 8778 Ferry Street, Montague.
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 Muskegon Area District Library branch.
New in Montague? 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 $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montague cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.7M 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 21,037 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montague | Montague Branch Library fine-free | — | 44 | A− |
| Whitehall | White Lake Community Library fine-free | — | 45 | B |
| Montague 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. Montague Branch Library is one branch of Muskegon Area District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 107,920 people it serves.
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 Montague
Does Montague have a public library?
Yes: Montague Branch Library, 8778 Ferry Street, is a branch of Muskegon Area District Library, which serves 107,920 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Muskegon 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 Montague’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Montague’s civic life grade?
A− Montague is ahead of 85% 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 Montague.
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.