Otter Lake’s library is a branch of Lapeer District Library, which lends less per resident than 67% of systems its size
Otter Lake’s library is the Otter Lake Branch Library, a branch of Lapeer District Library, which serves 60,026 people and lent 187K items last year.
What Otter Lake’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Lapeer District Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
The Otter Lake branch keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Otter Lake’s library is a branch of Lapeer District Library, so they cover the whole system (60,026 people), not just the Otter Lake branch.
What’s behind Otter Lake’s civic life grade
Otter Lake isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lapeer District Library serves 60,026 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lapeer District Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
187K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,415 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Otter Lake Branch Library, 6361 Detroit Street, Otter Lake.
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 Lapeer District Library branch.
New in Otter Lake? 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 $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Otter Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 11,859 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Otter Lake Branch Library is one branch of Lapeer District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 60,026 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 Otter Lake
Does Otter Lake have a public library?
Yes: Otter Lake Branch Library, 6361 Detroit Street, is a branch of Lapeer District Library, which serves 60,026 people. The branch is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lapeer 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 Otter Lake’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Otter Lake’s civic life grade?
Otter Lake isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Otter Lake.
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.