McKinley School · Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Vassar’s library lends 2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bullard Sanford Memorial Library serves 9,411 people in and around Vassar. Last year it lent 19K print books and media and logged 28K visits.
What stands out about Bullard Sanford Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Vassar’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Vassar is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #308 of 697 in Michigan. Vassar is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Vassar’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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Vassar
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
16.2%
16.2% of Vassar’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 Vassar’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bullard Sanford Memorial Library serves 9,411 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bullard Sanford Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
19K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
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, 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
Bullard Sanford Memorial Library, 520 West Huron Avenue, Vassar.
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 Bullard Sanford Memorial Library branch.
New in Vassar? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vassar cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $388K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $372K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $388K 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 1,836 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vassar | Bullard Sanford Memorial Library fine-free | — | 42 | B+ |
| Vassar Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Tuscola 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Bullard Sanford Memorial Library serves 9,411 people in and around Vassar, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Vassar.
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 Vassar
Does Vassar have a public library?
Yes. Bullard Sanford Memorial Library, 520 West Huron Avenue, serves 9,411 people in and around Vassar (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bullard Sanford 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 Vassar’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 2.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Vassar’s civic life grade?
B+ Vassar is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #308 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 Vassar.
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.