Photo: Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0Suttons Bay Township’s library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library serves 5,460 people in and around Suttons Bay Township. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
Suttons Bay Township’s library, in brief
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 90 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 38 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; Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library serves 5,460 people in and around Suttons Bay Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Suttons Bay Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Suttons Bay Township is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #10 of 697 in Michigan. Suttons Bay Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Suttons Bay Township near the top nationally; 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Suttons Bay Township
8.9 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.
13.7%
13.7% of Suttons Bay Township’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 Suttons Bay Township’s residents live; 2022.
41% of borrowing is digital
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
15,388 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library serves 5,460 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library system. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library, 416 Front Street, Suttons Bay.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library branch.
New in Suttons Bay Township? 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 $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Suttons Bay Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $261K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $618K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $261K 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 2,771 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leelanau Township | Leelanau Township Library fine-free | 2.1 | 42 | A+ |
| Suttons Bay Township | Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library fine-free | — | 44 | A+ |
| Leland Township | Leland Township Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | A+ |
| Bingham Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Lake Leelanau | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library serves 5,460 people in and around Suttons Bay Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Suttons Bay Township.
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 Suttons Bay Township
Does Suttons Bay Township have a public library?
Yes. Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library, 416 Front Street, serves 5,460 people in and around Suttons Bay Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Suttons Bay-Bingham 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 Suttons Bay Township’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Suttons Bay Township’s civic life grade?
A+ Suttons Bay Township is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Suttons Bay Township.
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.