Photo: bigmikesndtech · CC BY 2.0Muskegon’s library runs 6.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Hackley Public Library serves 40,907 people in and around Muskegon. Last year it lent 114K books, movies and e-books and logged 68K visits.
What stands out about Hackley Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Muskegon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Muskegon is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #597 of 697 in Michigan. Muskegon’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$56K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
146 community nonprofits are registered in Muskegon
3.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (43 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of Muskegon’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 Muskegon’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hackley Public Library serves 40,907 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hackley Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
114K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,341 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Hackley Public Library, 316 West Webster Avenue, Muskegon.
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 Hackley Public Library branch.
New in Muskegon? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Muskegon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 9,256 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruitport Township | Fruitport District Library fine-free | 4.2 | 43 | C− |
| Muskegon | Hackley Public Library fine-free | — | 50 | C |
| Muskegon Township | Muskegon Township fine-free | — | 43 | C |
| Muskegon Heights | Muskegon Heights Branch Library fine-free | — | 44 | C− |
| North Muskegon | North Muskegon Branch Library fine-free | — | 52 | B− |
| Norton Shores | Norton Shores Branch Library fine-free | — | 55 | C+ |
| Laketon Township | Laketon Township Branch fine-free | — | 19 | 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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hackley Public Library serves 40,907 people in and around Muskegon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Muskegon.
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 Muskegon
Does Muskegon have a public library?
Yes. Hackley Public Library, 316 West Webster Avenue, serves 40,907 people in and around Muskegon (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hackley 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 Muskegon’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Muskegon’s civic life grade?
C Muskegon is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #597 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 Muskegon.
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.