Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 3.0Spring Lake’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Spring Lake District Library serves 19,868 people in and around Spring Lake. Last year it lent 292K books, movies and e-books and logged 96K visits.
The short version on Spring Lake’s library
A system of heavy borrowers
Spring Lake District Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Spring Lake 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; Spring Lake District Library serves 19,868 people in and around Spring Lake, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Spring Lake’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Spring Lake is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #353 of 697 in Michigan. Spring Lake is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Spring Lake’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Spring Lake
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of Spring Lake’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 Spring Lake’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Spring Lake District Library serves 19,868 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 88 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Spring Lake District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
292K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
70,759 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Spring Lake District Library, 123 East Exchange Street, Spring Lake.
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 Spring Lake District Library branch.
New in Spring Lake? 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 $2.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spring Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 9,659 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake | Spring Lake District Library fine-free | — | 64 | B |
| Spring Lake Township | Spring Lake District Library fine-free | — | 64 | B |
| Grand Haven | Loutit District Library fine-free | — | 53 | A− |
| Ferrysburg | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Grand Haven Township | 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.
- System-wide. Spring Lake District Library serves 19,868 people in and around Spring Lake, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Spring Lake.
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 Spring Lake
Does Spring Lake have a public library?
Yes. Spring Lake District Library, 123 East Exchange Street, serves 19,868 people in and around Spring Lake (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Spring Lake 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 Spring Lake’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 14.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Spring Lake’s civic life grade?
B Spring Lake is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #353 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 Spring Lake.
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.