Lyon Township’s library lends 5.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lyon Township Public Library serves Lyon Township’s 23,271 residents. Last year it lent 169K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
Lyon Township’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Lyon Township’s library lends 7.3 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Novi at 13. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Lyon Township Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 51 items go out. The building ↓
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 Lyon Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lyon Township is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #557 of 697 in Michigan. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lyon Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($110K–$183K) 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 →
65 community nonprofits are registered in Lyon Township
2.6 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Lyon 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 Lyon Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lyon Township Public Library serves 23,271 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 51 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
169K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 65K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
46,543 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Lyon Township last year.
Find it
Lyon Township Public Library, 27005 South Milford Road, South Lyon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lyon 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 $2.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lyon Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 7,309 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lyon Township ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novi | Novi Public Library fine-free | 12.6 | 72 | B− |
| Milford Township | Milford Public Library fine-free | 10.1 | 58 | B |
| Wixom | Wixom Public Library fine-free | 8.0 | 53 | C+ |
| Lyon Township | Lyon Township Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 64 | C+ |
| Salem Township | Salem-South Lyon District Library | — | 58 | B+ |
| South Lyon | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Green Oak Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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 Lyon Township
Does Lyon Township have a public library?
Yes. Lyon Township Public Library, 27005 South Milford Road, serves Lyon Township’s 23,271 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lyon Township Public 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 Lyon Township’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 7.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lyon Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Lyon Township is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #557 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 Lyon 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.