Photo: User: (WT-shared) Haem85 at wts wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 3.0Peninsula Township’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Peninsula Community Library serves Peninsula Township’s 6,068 residents. Last year it lent 27K print books and media and logged 25K visits.
The short version on Peninsula Township’s library
More library cards than residents
60,376 cards for 6,068 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 68%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 202 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 58 were for children. 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.
What’s behind Peninsula Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Peninsula Township is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #147 of 697 in Michigan. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Peninsula Township
4.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.0%
12.0% of Peninsula Township’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 Peninsula Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Peninsula Community Library serves 6,068 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
27K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
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, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Peninsula Township last year.
Find it
Peninsula Community Library, 2893 Island View Road, Traverse City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Peninsula Township? 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 $1.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Peninsula Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $437K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $458K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $437K 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 60,376 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peninsula Township | Peninsula Community Library fine-free | 4.4 | 43 | A− |
| Traverse City | Traverse Area District Library | — | 67 | A |
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. Peninsula Community 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.
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 Peninsula Township
Does Peninsula Township have a public library?
Yes. Peninsula Community Library, 2893 Island View Road, serves Peninsula Township’s 6,068 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peninsula Community 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 Peninsula Township’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 4.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Peninsula Township’s civic life grade?
A− Peninsula Township is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #147 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 Peninsula Township.
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.