Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Canton Township’s library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Canton Public Library serves Canton Township’s 98,659 residents. Last year it lent 1.4M books, movies and e-books and logged 358K visits.
Canton Township’s library, in brief
Top 10% in Michigan for borrowing
Canton Township ranks #4 of 88 Michigan towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 9.9 items per resident, more than at 89% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Canton Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Canton Public Library offered 520 programs last year, 5.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
Canton Public Library is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 379 items go out. The building ↓
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 Canton Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Canton Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #575 of 697 in Michigan. Library visits hold the grade up; Canton Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($91K–$152K) 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 →
265 community nonprofits are registered in Canton Township
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (67 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 19 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Canton 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 Canton Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Canton Public Library serves 98,659 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 379 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 218K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.5 times last year, on average.
384,601 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Canton Township last year.
Find it
Canton Public Library, 1200 South Canton Center Road, Canton.
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 Canton 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 $3.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canton Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.4M 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 57,081 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton Township | Canton Public Library fine-free | 13.8 | 69 | C+ |
| Westland | William P. Faust Public Library of Westland fine-free | 3.2 | 67 | D |
| Superior Township | Superior Township Library fine-free | — | 64 | C |
| Van Buren Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Plymouth Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Canton Township
Does Canton Township have a public library?
Yes. Canton Public Library, 1200 South Canton Center Road, serves Canton Township’s 98,659 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Canton 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 Canton Township’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 13.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Canton Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Canton Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #575 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 Canton 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.