Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Ypsilanti’s library runs 24 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Ypsilanti District Library serves 88,021 people in and around Ypsilanti. Last year it lent 714K books, movies and e-books and logged 239K visits.
The short version on Ypsilanti’s library
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Ypsilanti District Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 75% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Ypsilanti District Library serves 88,021 people in and around Ypsilanti, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ypsilanti’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ypsilanti is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #307 of 697 in Michigan. Ypsilanti is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Ypsilanti’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 →
69 community nonprofits are registered in Ypsilanti
3.5 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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.7%
9.7% of Ypsilanti’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 Ypsilanti’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Ypsilanti District Library serves 88,021 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 93 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ypsilanti District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
714K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
236,388 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 20 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
Ydl - Michigan Avenue Branch, 229 West Michigan Avenue, Ypsilanti.
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 Ypsilanti District Library branch.
New in Ypsilanti? 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 $1.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ypsilanti cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.3M 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 36,787 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ypsilanti | Ydl - Michigan Avenue Branch fine-free | — | — | B+ |
| Ypsilanti Township | Ypsilanti District Library fine-free | — | 68 | 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.
- System-wide. Ypsilanti District Library serves 88,021 people in and around Ypsilanti, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ypsilanti.
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 Ypsilanti
Does Ypsilanti have a public library?
Yes. Ypsilanti District Library, 229 West Michigan Avenue, serves 88,021 people in and around Ypsilanti (the survey’s count).
Is Ypsilanti 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 Ypsilanti’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ypsilanti’s civic life grade?
B+ Ypsilanti is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #307 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 Ypsilanti.
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.