Photo: Rachel Kramer · CC BY 2.0Empire Township’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Glen Lake Community Library serves 3,530 people in and around Empire Township. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What Empire Township’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
Glen Lake Community Library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
63% of the 131 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 43 were for children. 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; Glen Lake Community Library serves 3,530 people in and around Empire Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Empire Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Empire Township is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Empire Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Empire Township near the top nationally; Empire Township’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Empire Township
10.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
15.0%
15.0% of Empire 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 Empire Township’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,440 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Glen Lake Community Library serves 3,530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Glen Lake Community Library system. The library’s own count.
131 programs a year
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
Glen Lake Community Library, 10115 West Front Street, Empire.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Glen Lake Community Library branch.
New in Empire 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 $2.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Empire Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $272K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $660K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $272K 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 2,063 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empire Township | Glen Lake Community Library fine-free | — | 46 | A+ |
| Kasson Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Glen Arbor Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Platte 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. Glen Lake Community Library serves 3,530 people in and around Empire Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Empire Township.
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 Empire Township
Does Empire Township have a public library?
Yes. Glen Lake Community Library, 10115 West Front Street, serves 3,530 people in and around Empire Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glen Lake 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 Empire Township’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Empire Township’s civic life grade?
A+ Empire Township is among the top 1% 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 Empire 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.