Photo: Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0Allendale Township’s library runs 5.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Allendale Township Library serves Allendale Township’s 35,384 residents. Last year it lent 241K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
What Allendale Township’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Allendale Township Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Allendale Township Library spends $14 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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.
What’s behind Allendale Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Allendale Township is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #541 of 697 in Michigan. Allendale Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Allendale Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($61K–$102K) 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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Allendale Township
1.9 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.0%
10.0% of Allendale Township’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 Allendale Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Allendale Township Library serves 35,384 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 85 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
241K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 49K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
85,721 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Allendale Township last year.
Find it
Allendale Township Library, 6175 Library Lane, Allendale.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Allendale 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 $7.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Allendale Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $490K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $490K 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 6,056 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown Township | Georgetown Township Public Library | 12.5 | 63 | B− |
| Allendale Township | Allendale Township Library fine-free | 6.8 | 55 | C+ |
| Polkton Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Tallmadge Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Lamont | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Robinson Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Blendon Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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 Allendale Township
Does Allendale Township have a public library?
Yes. Allendale Township Library, 6175 Library Lane, serves Allendale Township’s 35,384 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Allendale Township 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 Allendale Township’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Allendale Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Allendale Township is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #541 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 Allendale 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.