Southgate’s library runs 3.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Southgate Veterans Memorial Library serves Southgate’s 30,014 residents. Last year it lent 119K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
Southgate’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Southgate Veterans Memorial Library offered 99 programs last year, 3.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Southgate Veterans Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Southgate Veterans Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 99 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 41 for ages 0–5. 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 Southgate’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Southgate is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #652 of 697 in Michigan. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Southgate Veterans Memorial Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 →
69 community nonprofits are registered in Southgate
2.4 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Southgate’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 Southgate’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Southgate Veterans Memorial Library serves 30,014 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
119K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 85K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
22,909 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Southgate last year.
Find it
Southgate Veterans Memorial Library, 14680 Dix-Toledo Road, Southgate.
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 Southgate? 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 $3.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Southgate cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $558K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $558K 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 5,030 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Southgate ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyandotte | Bacon Memorial District Library fine-free | 5.3 | 54 | B− |
| Southgate | Southgate Veterans Memorial Library fine-free | 4.0 | 48 | C− |
| Allen Park | Allen Park Public Library fine-free | 3.6 | 47 | C− |
| Lincoln Park | Lincoln Park Public Library fine-free | 0.7 | 39 | D− |
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 Southgate
Does Southgate have a public library?
Yes. Southgate Veterans Memorial Library, 14680 Dix-Toledo Road, serves Southgate’s 30,014 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Southgate Veterans Memorial 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 Southgate’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Southgate’s civic life grade?
C− Southgate is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #652 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 Southgate.
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.