Photo: Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0Georgetown Township’s library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Georgetown Township Public Library serves Georgetown Township’s 54,091 residents. Last year it lent 677K books, movies and e-books and logged 198K visits.
The short version on Georgetown Township’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 58% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Georgetown Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Michigan for borrowing
Georgetown Township ranks #6 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 ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Georgetown Township Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Georgetown Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Georgetown Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #482 of 697 in Michigan. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Georgetown 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 →
128 community nonprofits are registered in Georgetown Township
2.3 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 (61 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.7%
9.7% of Georgetown 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 Georgetown Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 Georgetown Township last year.
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.
Georgetown Township Public Library serves 54,091 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 207 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
677K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 145K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.7 times last year, on average.
144,125 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Georgetown Township Public Library, 1525 Baldwin Street, Jenison.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Georgetown 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 $6.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Georgetown Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $10M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 21,720 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Georgetown Township ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamestown Township | Patmos Library fine-free | 18.3 | 39 | C |
| Georgetown Township | Georgetown Township Public Library | 12.5 | 63 | B− |
| Allendale Township | Allendale Township Library fine-free | 6.8 | 55 | C+ |
| Hudsonville | Gary Byker Memorial Library of Hudsonville fine-free | — | 45 | C+ |
| Grandville | Grandville Branch Library fine-free | — | 59 | B+ |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Branch fine-free | — | 59 | D |
| Tallmadge Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| 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 Georgetown Township
Does Georgetown Township have a public library?
Yes. Georgetown Township Public Library, 1525 Baldwin Street, serves Georgetown Township’s 54,091 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Georgetown Township Public 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 Georgetown Township’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 12.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Georgetown Township’s civic life grade?
B− Georgetown Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #482 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 Georgetown 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.