Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0New Buffalo’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
New Buffalo Township Public Library serves 5,089 people in and around New Buffalo. Last year it lent 31K print books and media and logged 64K visits.
The short version on New Buffalo’s library
Visits are the system’s strong suit
New Buffalo Township Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
4,456 cards for 5,089 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 108 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; New Buffalo Township Public Library serves 5,089 people in and around New Buffalo, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind New Buffalo’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Buffalo is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. New Buffalo is graded on two of the three inputs. New Buffalo’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in New Buffalo
9.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of New Buffalo’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 Buffalo’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole New Buffalo Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
New Buffalo Township Public Library serves 5,089 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
31K 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 1 kids’ program 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
New Buffalo Township Public Library, 33 North Thompson Street, New Buffalo.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every New Buffalo Township Public Library branch.
New in New Buffalo? 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 $1.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Buffalo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $422K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $490K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $422K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 4,456 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Buffalo | New Buffalo Township Public Library | — | 50 | B+ |
| New Buffalo Township | None 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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. New Buffalo Township Public Library serves 5,089 people in and around New Buffalo, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just New Buffalo.
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 Buffalo
Does New Buffalo have a public library?
Yes. New Buffalo Township Public Library, 33 North Thompson Street, serves 5,089 people in and around New Buffalo (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Buffalo Township Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is New Buffalo’s library?
It logged 12.5 visits and lent 6.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is New Buffalo’s civic life grade?
B+ New Buffalo is ahead of 74% 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 New Buffalo.
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.