Photo: Lrgjr72 · CC BY-SA 4.0Pontiac’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Pontiac Public Library serves Pontiac’s 61,606 residents. Last year it lent 36K print books and media and logged 36K visits.
The short version on Pontiac’s library
Pontiac Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Pontiac Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Pontiac’s library lends 0.6 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Bloomfield Township at 19. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Pontiac Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Pontiac Public Library offered 332 programs last year, 5.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. 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 Pontiac’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pontiac is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #691 of 697 in Michigan. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Pontiac’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Pontiac Public Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$55K) 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 →
192 community nonprofits are registered in Pontiac
3.1 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 (70 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.2%
3.2% of Pontiac’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 Pontiac’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pontiac Public Library serves 61,606 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
36K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 73K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
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, 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 Pontiac last year.
Find it
Pontiac Public Library, 60 East Pike Street, Pontiac.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pontiac? 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 Pontiac cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $609K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 8,564 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pontiac ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomfield Township | Bloomfield Township Public Library | 18.5 | 66 | A |
| Auburn Hills | Auburn Hills Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 59 | C |
| Waterford Township | Waterford Township Public Library fine-free | 4.3 | 55 | C− |
| Pontiac | Pontiac Public Library | 0.6 | 52 | D |
| Lake Angelus | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sylvan Lake | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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. Pontiac 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.
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 Pontiac
Does Pontiac have a public library?
Yes. Pontiac Public Library, 60 East Pike Street, serves Pontiac’s 61,606 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pontiac 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 Pontiac’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 0.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Pontiac’s civic life grade?
D Pontiac is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #691 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 Pontiac.
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.