Whitefish Point Lighthouse · Photo: Browermd · CC BY-SA 3.0Whitefish Township’s library lends 9.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Whitefish Township Community Library serves Whitefish Township’s 474 residents. Last year it lent 4,311 print books and media and logged 3,321 visits.
What Whitefish Township’s library is like
More library cards than residents
693 cards for 474 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 51 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 4 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Whitefish Township Community Library serves 474 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Whitefish Township’s civic life grade
Whitefish Township isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Whitefish Township Community Library serves 474 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
4,311 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
51 programs a year
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.
Find it
Whitefish Township Community Library, 7247 North M-123, Paradise.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Whitefish 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 $1.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitefish Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $38K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $70K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38K 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 693 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitefish Township | Whitefish Township Community Library fine-free | 9.1 | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| McMillan Township | Tahquamenon Area Public Library | — | 52 | A+ |
| Chippewa Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bay Mills Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Hulbert Township | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Whitefish Township
Does Whitefish Township have a public library?
Yes. Whitefish Township Community Library, 7247 North M-123, serves Whitefish Township’s 474 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whitefish Township Community 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 Whitefish Township’s library?
It logged 7.0 visits and lent 9.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Whitefish Township’s civic life grade?
Whitefish Township isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Whitefish 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.