Detroit-Bay City Railroad Company Columbiaville Depot · Photo: Paul R. Burley · CC BY-SA 4.0Marathon Township’s library is a branch of Lapeer District Library, which lends less per resident than 67% of systems its size
Marathon Township’s library is the Columbiaville Branch Library, a branch of Lapeer District Library, which serves 60,026 people and lent 187K items last year.
The short version on Marathon Township’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Lapeer District Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
The Marathon Township branch keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The buildings ↓
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; Marathon Township’s library is a branch of Lapeer District Library, so they cover the whole system (60,026 people), not just the Marathon Township branch.
What’s behind Marathon Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Marathon Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #463 of 697 in Michigan. Marathon Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Marathon 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 Marathon Township
1.7 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.
12.6%
12.6% of Marathon 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 Marathon Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lapeer District Library serves 60,026 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lapeer District Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
187K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,415 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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.
2 places to borrow in Marathon Township
Columbiaville Branch Library, 4718 First Street, Columbiaville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lapeer District Library branch.
New in Marathon Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Lapeer District Library branches in Marathon Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marathon Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 11,859 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown Township | Watertown Township Library fine-free | 7.2 | 28 | C |
| Marathon Township | Columbiaville Branch Library fine-free | — | 22 | B− |
| Forest Township | Forest Township Library | — | 40 | A− |
| Oregon Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Deerfield 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.
- System-wide. Columbiaville Branch Library is one branch of Lapeer District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 60,026 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 Marathon Township
Does Marathon Township have a public library?
Yes: Columbiaville Branch Library, 4718 First Street, is a branch of Lapeer District Library, which serves 60,026 people. The branch is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lapeer 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 Marathon Township’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Marathon Township’s civic life grade?
B− Marathon Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #463 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 Marathon 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.