Athens Township’s library lends 2.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Athens Community Library serves Athens Township’s 2,444 residents. Last year it lent 7,820 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,488 visits.
What Athens Township’s library is like
A small-town library
Athens Community Library serves 2,444 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 46 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 155 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Athens Community Library logs about 51 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 4 public computers. That’s 7.6 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Athens Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Athens Township is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Athens Township
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.8%
12.8% of Athens 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 Athens Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Athens Community Library serves 2,444 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
7,820 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,592 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
1,534 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 Athens Township last year.
Find it
Athens Community Library, 106 East Burr Oak Street, Athens.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Athens 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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Athens Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $92K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $177K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $92K 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 1,775 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens Township | Athens Community Library fine-free | 3.2 | 46 | B+ |
| Burlington Township | Burlington Township Library fine-free | 0.3 | 18 | C |
| Sherwood Township | Sherwood Library Branch fine-free | — | 35 | B− |
| Climax Township | Lawrence Memorial District Library fine-free | — | 26 | C |
| Leroy Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Wakeshma Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- 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 Athens Township
Does Athens Township have a public library?
Yes. Athens Community Library, 106 East Burr Oak Street, serves Athens Township’s 2,444 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Athens Community 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 Athens Township’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Athens Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Athens Township is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Athens 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.