Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Novi’s library runs 66 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Novi Public Library serves Novi’s 66,403 residents. Last year it lent 835K books, movies and e-books and logged 391K visits.
What Novi’s library is like
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Novi Public Library ran 4,394 programs last year, about 85 a week. That’s 66 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 47,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Novi out-borrows every town next door
At 13 loans per resident, Novi leads the four towns here. The closest is Wixom, at 8. Libraries next door ↓
Novi uses its library more than almost any town its size
Novi Public Library logs 5.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Michigan for library use
Novi ranks #4 of 91 Michigan towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 5.9 visits per resident, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Open about 72 hours a week
Novi Public Library is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 243 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 Novi’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Novi is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #444 of 697 in Michigan. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
225 community nonprofits are registered in Novi
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (40 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Novi’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 Novi’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 Novi last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Novi Public Library serves 66,403 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 243 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
835K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 154K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.4 times last year, on average.
158,979 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Novi Public Library, 45255 West Ten Mile Road, Novi.
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 Novi? 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 $4.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Novi cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 23,295 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Novi borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. 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− |
| Wixom | Wixom Public Library fine-free | 8.0 | 53 | C+ |
| Lyon Township | Lyon Township Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 64 | C+ |
| Walled Lake | Walled Lake City Library fine-free | 5.4 | 51 | C+ |
| Northville | Northville District Library fine-free | — | 62 | B+ |
| Farmington Hills | Farmington Community Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| Northville 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Novi Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Novi
Does Novi have a public library?
Yes. Novi Public Library, 45255 West Ten Mile Road, serves Novi’s 66,403 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Novi 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 Novi’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 12.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Novi’s civic life grade?
B− Novi is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #444 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 Novi.
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.