Mills Township’s library is a branch of Ogemaw District Library, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Mills Township’s library is the Skidway Lake Branch Library, a branch of Ogemaw District Library, which serves 11,647 people and lent 28K items last year.
Mills Township’s library, in brief
Open only about 17 hours a week
The Mills Township branch keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
73% of the 599 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 136 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Mills Township’s library is a branch of Ogemaw District Library, so they cover the whole system (11,647 people), not just the Mills Township branch.
What’s behind Mills Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mills Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #385 of 697 in Michigan. Mills Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Mills 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Mills Township
2.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.0%
14.0% of Mills 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 Mills Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ogemaw District Library serves 11,647 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ogemaw District Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,144 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Skidway Lake Branch Library, 2129 Greenwood Road, Prescott.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ogemaw District Library branch.
New in Mills 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 $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mills Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $270K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $550K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $270K 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 914 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mills Township | Skidway Lake Branch Library fine-free | — | 17 | B |
| Richland Township | Ogemaw East Branch Library fine-free | — | 15 | — graded with its twin city |
| Skidway Lake | Skidway Lake Branch Library fine-free | — | 17 | — graded as part of its town |
| Churchill Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Horton Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Skidway Lake Branch Library is one branch of Ogemaw District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 11,647 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 Mills Township
Does Mills Township have a public library?
Yes: Skidway Lake Branch Library, 2129 Greenwood Road, is a branch of Ogemaw District Library, which serves 11,647 people. The branch is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ogemaw 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 Mills Township’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mills Township’s civic life grade?
B Mills Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #385 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 Mills 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.