Johannesburg Manufacturing Company Store · Photo: Calm Vistas · CC BY 2.0Charlton Township’s library is a branch of Otsego County Library, which lends less per resident than 53% of systems its size
Charlton Township’s library is the Johannesburg Branch Library, a branch of Otsego County Library, which serves 25,091 people and lent 130K items last year.
The short version on Charlton Township’s library
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Charlton Township branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 190 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Charlton Township’s library is a branch of Otsego County Library, so they cover the whole system (25,091 people), not just the Charlton Township branch.
What’s behind Charlton Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Charlton Township is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. Charlton Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Charlton Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Charlton Township
2.1 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.9%
14.9% of Charlton 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 Charlton Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Otsego County Library serves 25,091 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Otsego County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
130K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
42,187 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Johannesburg Branch Library, 10900 East M-32, Johannesburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Otsego County Library branch.
New in Charlton 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 $2.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Charlton Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $777K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $777K 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 12,772 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlton Township | Johannesburg Branch Library | — | 20 | B |
| Corwith Township | Vanderbilt Branch Library | — | 20 | B− |
| Albert Township | Lewiston Public Library | — | 38 | A+ |
| Vienna Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chester Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Dover Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lovells Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Johannesburg Branch Library is one branch of Otsego County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 25,091 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 Charlton Township
Does Charlton Township have a public library?
Yes: Johannesburg Branch Library, 10900 East M-32, is a branch of Otsego County Library, which serves 25,091 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Otsego County 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 Charlton Township’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Charlton Township’s civic life grade?
B Charlton Township is ahead of 60% 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 Charlton 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.