Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Saginaw’s library lends 1.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Public Libraries of Saginaw serves 117,256 people in and around Saginaw from 3 locations. Last year it lent 282K books, movies and e-books and logged 240K visits.
What stands out about Public Libraries of Saginaw
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Saginaw’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Saginaw is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #593 of 697 in Michigan. Saginaw is graded on two of the three inputs. Saginaw’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 →
190 community nonprofits are registered in Saginaw
4.4 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 (52 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Saginaw’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 Saginaw’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Public Libraries of Saginaw serves 117,256 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Public Libraries of Saginaw system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
282K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
59,538 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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.
3 places to borrow in Saginaw
Public Libraries of Saginaw, 505 Janes Avenue, Saginaw.
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 Public Libraries of Saginaw branch.
New in Saginaw? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Public Libraries of Saginaw branches in Saginaw
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Saginaw cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 19,825 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saginaw | Public Libraries of Saginaw fine-free | — | 58 | C+ |
| Saginaw Township | Rudolph C. Zauel Memorial Library fine-free | — | 59 | — graded with its twin city |
| Bridgeport Township | Bridgeport Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | B− |
| Spaulding Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Buena Vista Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| James Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Carrollton Township | 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.
- System-wide. Public Libraries of Saginaw serves 117,256 people in and around Saginaw, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Saginaw.
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 Saginaw
Does Saginaw have a public library?
Yes. Public Libraries of Saginaw, 505 Janes Avenue, serves 117,256 people in and around Saginaw (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Public Libraries of Saginaw 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 Saginaw’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Saginaw’s civic life grade?
C+ Saginaw is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #593 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 Saginaw.
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.