Photo: Dave Parker · CC BY 3.0Southfield’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Southfield Public Library serves Southfield’s 80,706 residents. Last year it lent 379K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
The short version on Southfield’s library
Well funded, but lightly used
Southfield Public Library spends $220 per resident, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 92% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 839 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 9.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Southfield Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, below 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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 Southfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Southfield is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #627 of 697 in Michigan. Southfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$85K) 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 →
592 community nonprofits are registered in Southfield
7.8 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 (181 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 36 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of Southfield’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 Southfield’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Southfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $18M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $18M 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 20,293 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Southfield Public Library serves 80,706 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 129 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
379K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 222K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
94,916 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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 Southfield last year.
Find it
Southfield Public Library, 26300 Evergreen Road, Southfield.
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 Southfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Southfield ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southfield Township | Franklin Public Library fine-free | 8.7 | 46 | A+ |
| Franklin | Franklin Public Library fine-free | 8.7 | 46 | A |
| Southfield | Southfield Public Library fine-free | 4.7 | 57 | C |
| Oak Park | Oak Park Public Library | 3.5 | 49 | C |
| Detroit | Detroit Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 51 | D |
| Farmington Hills | Farmington Community Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| Beverly Hills | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Bingham Farms | None of its own | — | — | B |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Southfield
Does Southfield have a public library?
Yes. Southfield Public Library, 26300 Evergreen Road, serves Southfield’s 80,706 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Southfield Public 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 Southfield’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Southfield’s civic life grade?
C Southfield is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #627 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 Southfield.
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.