Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Morenci

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Van Wagoner, Murray D., Memorial BridgeVan Wagoner, Murray D., Memorial Bridge · Photo: Michael Ceresko · CC BY-SA 4.0
Stair District Library

Morenci’s library runs 54 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size

Stair District Library serves 4,050 people in and around Morenci. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,771 visits.

228 West Main Street, Morenci 49256 · about 32 hours a week
A+Civic lifeAhead of 96% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
17K
4.3 per resident
Visits a year
7,771
1.9 per resident · Below typical (3)
Programs & events
218
about 4 a week · 6,071 attended
Cardholders
38%
1,524 cards
Open
32 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Stair District Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Morenci’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Morenci is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Morenci 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.

A+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Morenci’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 96%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $45K–$75K (7,572)Ahead of 95%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Morenci is small (2,218 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

13 community nonprofits are registered in Morenci

6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.47 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.94 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans31.40 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.47 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education31.40 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.47 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other20.94 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

13.6%

13.6% of Morenci’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 Morenci’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Morenci →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–587
Ages 6–1134
Teens26
Adults21
All ages50
Little ones
1.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

6,072
kids’ books & media borrowed
6,071
people at programs
218
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.9 visits · typical 3Lower than 69%
Borrowing per resident 3.5 print items · typical 3.8Lower than 55%
Digital borrowing 0.8 e-items · typical 1Lower than 57%
Kids’ borrowing 1.5 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 53%
Program attendance 1.5 attendees · typical 0.5Top 10%
Programs offered 53.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Higher than 70%
Cardholders 38% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 57%
Spending $50 per resident · typical $43Higher than 59%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Stair District Library serves 4,050 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stair District Library system. The library’s own count.

7,771
visits
1.9 per resident
17K
loans, print + digital
4.3 per resident
218
programs & events
6,071 attended
1,524
library cards
38% of people served
Every open hour10items borrowed
Every week117people at a program
Every day7Wi-Fi sessions
3 staff (full-time equivalent)19 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

17Kloans
Books & media (adults) 46%Kids’ books & media 35%E-books, audio & streaming 19%
From your couch

3,212 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Stair District Library, 228 West Main Street, Morenci.

32
hours open a week
5,300
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stair District Library branch.

New in Morenci? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

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 Morenci cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$50 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $201K.

Local taxes 90%State 2%Gifts & other 8%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $325K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $201K 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 1,524 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
MorenciStair District Library fine-free—32A+
Seneca TownshipNone of its own——B−
Medina TownshipNone of its own——B−

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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Stair District Library serves 4,050 people in and around Morenci, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Morenci.

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 Morenci

Does Morenci have a public library?

Yes. Stair District Library, 228 West Main Street, serves 4,050 people in and around Morenci (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Stair 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 Morenci’s library?

It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Morenci’s civic life grade?

A+ Morenci is ahead of 96% 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 Morenci.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.