Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0St. Johns’ library is a branch of Briggs District Library, which lends more per resident than 55% of systems its size
St. Johns’s library is the Briggs Public Library, a branch of Briggs District Library, which serves 19,114 people and lent 100K items last year.
What stands out about Briggs Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind St. Johns’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Johns is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #142 of 697 in Michigan. St. Johns 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in St. Johns
3.8 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.8%
13.8% of St. Johns’ 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. Johns’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Briggs District Library serves 19,114 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 38 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Briggs District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
100K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
16,950 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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.
Find it
Briggs Public Library, 108 East Railroad Street, Saint Johns.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Briggs District Library branch.
New in St. Johns? 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 $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Johns cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $662K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $662K 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 7,514 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Briggs Public Library is one branch of Briggs District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 19,114 people it serves.
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. Johns
Does St. Johns have a public library?
Yes: Briggs Public Library, 108 East Railroad Street, is a branch of Briggs District Library, which serves 19,114 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Briggs District 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. Johns’ library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is St. Johns’ civic life grade?
A− St. Johns is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #142 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. Johns.
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.