Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Saline’s library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Saline District Library serves 28,291 people in and around Saline. Last year it lent 356K books, movies and e-books and logged 147K visits.
What Saline’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Saline District Library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 9.3 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
24,000 people came to the system’s 940 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Saline branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. 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; Saline District Library serves 28,291 people in and around Saline, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Saline’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Saline is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #116 of 697 in Michigan. Saline is graded on two of the three inputs. Both 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Saline
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.3%
10.3% of Saline’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 Saline’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Saline District Library serves 28,291 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 108 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Saline District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
356K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
93,876 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Saline District Library, 555 North Maple Road, Saline.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Saline District Library branch.
New in Saline? 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 $2.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Saline cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 12,289 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saline | Saline District Library | — | 64 | A |
| Pittsfield Township | Pittsfield Branch Library fine-free | — | 69 | A− |
| Lodi Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Saline Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| York Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. Saline District Library serves 28,291 people in and around Saline, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Saline.
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 Saline
Does Saline have a public library?
Yes. Saline District Library, 555 North Maple Road, serves 28,291 people in and around Saline (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saline District 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 Saline’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 12.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Saline’s civic life grade?
A Saline is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #116 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 Saline.
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.