Photo: Nicolas Henderson · CC BY 2.0Saginaw’s library runs 79 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Saginaw Public Library serves Saginaw’s 25,139 residents. Last year it lent 101K books, movies and e-books and logged 61K visits.
Saginaw’s library, in brief
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Saginaw Public Library ran 1,996 programs last year, about 38 a week. That’s 79 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 20,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
86% of the 1,996 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 199 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 59% 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.
What’s behind Saginaw’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Saginaw is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #412 of 539 in Texas. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Saginaw’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Saginaw
0.5 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.4%
5.4% of Saginaw’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Saginaw’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Saginaw last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Saginaw Public Library serves 25,139 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
101K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 61K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
14,432 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Saginaw Public Library, 355 W Mcleroy Blvd, Saginaw.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Saginaw? 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 $1.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Saginaw cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $904K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $904K 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 8,409 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saginaw | Saginaw Public Library fine-free | 4.0 | 47 | D |
| Blue Mound | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Saginaw Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Saginaw
Does Saginaw have a public library?
Yes. Saginaw Public Library, 355 W Mcleroy Blvd, serves Saginaw’s 25,139 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saginaw Public 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 Saginaw’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Saginaw’s civic life grade?
D Saginaw is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #412 of 539 in Texas. 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 Saginaw.
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.