Photo: Lrgjr72 · CC BY-SA 4.0New Baltimore’s library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Macdonald Public Library serves 13,447 people in and around New Baltimore. Last year it lent 56K print books and media and logged 39K visits.
What stands out about Macdonald Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind New Baltimore’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Baltimore is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #631 of 697 in Michigan. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; New Baltimore’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($80K–$133K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in New Baltimore
1.2 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of New Baltimore’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 New Baltimore’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Macdonald Public Library serves 13,447 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Macdonald Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
56K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Macdonald Public Library, 36480 Main Street, New Baltimore.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Macdonald Public Library branch.
New in New Baltimore? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Baltimore cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $564K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $929K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $564K 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 5,918 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield Township | Chesterfield Township Library fine-free | 3.8 | 48 | C− |
| New Baltimore | Macdonald Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | C |
| Ira Township | Ira Township Library fine-free | — | 48 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Macdonald Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Macdonald Public Library serves 13,447 people in and around New Baltimore, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just New Baltimore.
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 New Baltimore
Does New Baltimore have a public library?
Yes. Macdonald Public Library, 36480 Main Street, serves 13,447 people in and around New Baltimore (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Macdonald 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 New Baltimore’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 4.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is New Baltimore’s civic life grade?
C New Baltimore is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #631 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 New Baltimore.
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.