Photo: Larry Pieniazek, Lar (commons) or User:Lar (primary) · CC BY 2.5Irving Township’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Freeport District Library serves 6,102 people in and around Irving Township. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,280 visits.
Irving Township’s library, in brief
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 67% of similar-size libraries. 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; Freeport District Library serves 6,102 people in and around Irving Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Irving Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Irving Township is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #442 of 697 in Michigan. Irving Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Irving 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Irving Township
1.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.7%
13.7% of Irving 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 Irving Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Freeport District Library serves 6,102 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Freeport District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,873 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
64 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
Freeport District Library, 208 South State Street, Freeport.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Freeport District Library branch.
New in Irving 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 $3.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Irving Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $127K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $427K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $127K 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 678 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irving Township | Freeport District Library | — | 30 | B− |
| Thornapple Township | Thornapple Kellogg School and Community Library | — | 16 | B− |
| Bowne Township | Alto Branch Library fine-free | — | 37 | B+ |
| Carlton Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Rutland 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.
- System-wide. Freeport District Library serves 6,102 people in and around Irving Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Irving 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 Irving Township
Does Irving Township have a public library?
Yes. Freeport District Library, 208 South State Street, serves 6,102 people in and around Irving Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Freeport 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 Irving Township’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Irving Township’s civic life grade?
B− Irving Township is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #442 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 Irving 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.