Photo: Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0Calumet’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Calumet Public Library serves Calumet’s 334 residents. Last year it lent 8,051 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,440 visits.
Calumet’s library, in brief
Calumet uses its library more than almost any town its size
Calumet Public Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 20 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
2,888 people came to the library’s 38 programs last year: 8.6 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Calumet Public Library serves 334 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 ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 17% of all loans. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Calumet’s civic life grade
Calumet 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 →
38 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Calumet Public Library serves 334 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
8,051 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,247 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
1,394 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Calumet Public Library, Gary Street and Third Avenue, Calumet.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Calumet? 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 $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Calumet cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $82K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $148K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $82K 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 56 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calumet | Calumet Public Library | 24.1 | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Marble | Marble Public Library fine-free | 14.1 | 22 | — 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Calumet
Does Calumet have a public library?
Yes. Calumet Public Library, Gary Street and Third Avenue, serves Calumet’s 334 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calumet Public 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 Calumet’s library?
It logged 10.3 visits and lent 24.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Calumet’s civic life grade?
Calumet 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 Calumet.
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.