Photo: The original uploader was Decumanus at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0St. Clair Shores’ library runs 8.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Saint Clair Shores Public Library serves St. Clair Shores’s 58,874 residents. Last year it lent 234K books, movies and e-books and logged 138K visits.
What stands out about St. Clair Shores’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind St. Clair Shores’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Clair Shores is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #621 of 697 in Michigan. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; St. Clair Shores’ count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) 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 →
150 community nonprofits are registered in St. Clair Shores
2.6 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of St. Clair Shores’ 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 St. Clair Shores’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Saint Clair Shores Public Library serves 58,874 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
234K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 124K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
49,647 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 St. Clair Shores last year.
Find it
Saint Clair Shores Public Library, 22500 Eleven Mile Road, Saint Clair Shores.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in St. Clair Shores? 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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Clair Shores cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 31,255 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
St. Clair Shores borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Clair Shores | Saint Clair Shores Public Library | 4.0 | 58 | C |
| Roseville | Roseville Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 53 | D− |
| Eastpointe | Eastpointe Memorial Library fine-free | 2.2 | 48 | D |
| Clinton Township | Clinton-Macomb Public Library | — | 72 | D |
| Village of Grosse Pointe Shores | 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.
- 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 St. Clair Shores
Does St. Clair Shores have a public library?
Yes. Saint Clair Shores Public Library, 22500 Eleven Mile Road, serves St. Clair Shores’ 58,874 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saint Clair Shores Public 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 St. Clair Shores’ library?
It logged 2.4 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 St. Clair Shores’ civic life grade?
C St. Clair Shores is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #621 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 St. Clair Shores.
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.