Photo: TheKuLeR · CC BY-SA 3.0Orion Township’s library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Orion Township Public Library serves Orion Township’s 38,206 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 458K books, movies and e-books and logged 125K visits.
What Orion Township’s library is like
Orion Township out-borrows every town next door
At 12 loans per resident, Orion Township leads the five towns here. The closest is Oxford Township, at 8.8. Libraries next door ↓
Top 10% in Michigan for kids’ borrowing
Orion Township ranks #6 of 91 Michigan towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Orion Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Orion Township is a town of borrowers
Orion Township Public Library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 756 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 290 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.
What’s behind Orion Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Orion Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #495 of 697 in Michigan. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Orion 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 →
109 community nonprofits are registered in Orion Township
2.8 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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of Orion 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 Orion Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Orion Township Public Library serves 38,206 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 105 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
458K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 114K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
102,275 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, 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 Orion Township last year.
2 places to borrow in Orion Township
Orion Township Public Library, 825 Joslyn Road, Lake Orion.
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 Orion Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Orion Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orion Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 21,804 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Orion Township borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orion Township | Orion Township Public Library fine-free | 12.0 | 60 | B− |
| Oxford Township | Oxford Public Library fine-free | 8.8 | 59 | A− |
| Independence Township | Clarkston Independence District Library fine-free | 7.2 | 61 | C+ |
| Auburn Hills | Auburn Hills Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 59 | C |
| Waterford Township | Waterford Township Public Library fine-free | 4.3 | 55 | C− |
| Oakland Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Rochester Hills | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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 Orion Township
Does Orion Township have a public library?
Yes. Orion Township Public Library, 825 Joslyn Road, serves Orion Township’s 38,206 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orion 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 Orion Township’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 12.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Orion Township’s civic life grade?
B− Orion Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #495 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 Orion 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.