Thompson Road-Air Line Railroad Bridge · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Howard Township’s library is a branch of Cass District Library, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Howard Township’s library is the Howard Branch Library, a branch of Cass District Library, which serves 37,840 people and lent 127K items last year.
What stands out about Howard Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Howard Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Howard Township is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #566 of 697 in Michigan. Howard Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Howard Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$99K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Howard Township
2.3 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of Howard 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 Howard Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cass District Library serves 37,840 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cass District Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
127K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
45,425 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
Howard Branch Library, 2341 Yankee Street, Niles.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cass District Library branch.
New in Howard 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 $1.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Howard Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 4,800 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Township | Howard Branch Library fine-free | — | 40 | C+ |
| Niles | Niles District Library | — | 59 | C+ |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Milton Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Pokagon Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Niles 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.
- System-wide. Howard Branch Library is one branch of Cass District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 37,840 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 Howard Township
Does Howard Township have a public library?
Yes: Howard Branch Library, 2341 Yankee Street, is a branch of Cass District Library, which serves 37,840 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cass District 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 Howard Township’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Howard Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Howard Township is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #566 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 Howard 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.