Dearborn’s library is a branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, which lends more per resident than 79% of systems its size
Dearborn’s library is the Dearborn Branch, a branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, which serves 840,292 people and lent 1M items last year.
Dearborn’s library, in brief
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
The Mid-Continent Public Library system spends $82 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Dearborn’s library is a branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, so they cover the whole system (840,292 people), not just the Dearborn branch.
What’s behind Dearborn’s civic life grade
Dearborn 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 →
51% of borrowing is digital
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,187,832 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Mid-Continent Public Library serves 840,292 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mid-Continent Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 122 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
Dearborn Branch, 206 Maple Leaf Ave, Dearborn.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mid-Continent Public Library branch.
New in Dearborn? 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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dearborn cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $69M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $154M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $69M 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 436,344 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Dearborn Branch is one branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 840,292 people it serves.
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 Dearborn
Does Dearborn have a public library?
Yes: Dearborn Branch, 206 Maple Leaf Ave, is a branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, which serves 840,292 people. The branch is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mid-Continent 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 Dearborn’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 12.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Dearborn’s civic life grade?
Dearborn 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 Dearborn.
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.