Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Sault Ste. Marie’s library runs 81 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Superior District Library serves 41,170 people in and around Sault Ste. Marie. Last year it lent 222K books, movies and e-books and logged 313K visits.
Sault Ste. Marie’s library, in brief
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Superior District Library ran 3,328 programs last year, about 64 a week. That’s 81 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 62,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Superior District Library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
36% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 62%. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 71% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Superior District Library serves 41,170 people in and around Sault Ste. Marie, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sault Ste. Marie’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sault Ste. Marie is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #96 of 697 in Michigan. Sault Ste. Marie 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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Sault Ste. Marie
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.4%
13.4% of Sault Ste. Marie’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 Sault Ste. Marie’s residents live; 2022.
About 27 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Superior District Library serves 41,170 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, for the whole Superior District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
222K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
25,517 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Superior District Library, 541 Library Drive, Sault Ste. Marie.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Superior District Library branch.
New in Sault Ste. Marie? 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 $3.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sault Ste. Marie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 15,331 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sault Ste. Marie | Superior District Library fine-free | — | 48 | A |
| Soo Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Sugar Island Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Superior District Library serves 41,170 people in and around Sault Ste. Marie, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sault Ste. Marie.
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 Sault Ste. Marie
Does Sault Ste. Marie have a public library?
Yes. Superior District Library, 541 Library Drive, serves 41,170 people in and around Sault Ste. Marie (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Superior 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 Sault Ste. Marie’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sault Ste. Marie’s civic life grade?
A Sault Ste. Marie is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #96 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 Sault Ste. Marie.
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.