Higgins Township’s library runs 80 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Roscommon Area District Library serves 5,912 people in and around Higgins Township. Last year it lent 6,795 print books and media and logged 37K visits.
What Higgins Township’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 82% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 12%. The building also logs about 8 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
More library cards than residents
7,021 cards for 5,912 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 100% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 63% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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; Roscommon Area District Library serves 5,912 people in and around Higgins Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Higgins Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Higgins Township is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. Higgins Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Higgins Township
4.7 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.
12.2%
12.2% of Higgins 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 Higgins Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Roscommon Area District Library serves 5,912 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Roscommon Area District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
6,795 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
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
Roscommon Area District Library, 106 Lake St., Roscommon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Roscommon Area District Library branch.
New in Higgins Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Higgins Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $315K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $134K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $315K 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 7,021 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richfield Township | Richfield Township Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 24 | B |
| Higgins Township | Roscommon Area District Library | — | 35 | A |
| Backus Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Au Sable Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Gerrish Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Markey Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| South Branch 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Roscommon Area District Library serves 5,912 people in and around Higgins Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Higgins 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 Higgins Township
Does Higgins Township have a public library?
Yes. Roscommon Area District Library, 106 Lake St., serves 5,912 people in and around Higgins Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Roscommon Area District 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 Higgins Township’s library?
It logged 6.3 visits and lent 1.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Higgins Township’s civic life grade?
A Higgins Township is ahead of 89% 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 Higgins 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.