Richland Township’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Rauchholz Memorial Library serves 5,953 people in and around Richland Township. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,892 visits.
What stands out about Rauchholz Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Richland Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Richland Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #384 of 697 in Michigan. Richland Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Richland 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Richland Township
2.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.4%
10.4% of Richland 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 Richland Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rauchholz Memorial Library serves 5,953 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rauchholz Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,053 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Rauchholz Memorial Library, 1140 North Hemlock Road, Hemlock.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rauchholz Memorial Library branch.
New in Richland 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 $3.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Richland Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $159K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $488K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $159K 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 1,566 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Township | Thomas Township Library | 3.9 | 45 | C |
| Richland Township | Rauchholz Memorial Library fine-free | — | 37 | B |
| Jonesfield Township | Merrill District Library fine-free | — | 29 | B− |
| Fremont Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Ingersoll Township | 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.
- System-wide. Rauchholz Memorial Library serves 5,953 people in and around Richland Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Richland Township.
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 Richland Township
Does Richland Township have a public library?
Yes. Rauchholz Memorial Library, 1140 North Hemlock Road, serves 5,953 people in and around Richland Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rauchholz Memorial 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 Richland Township’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Richland Township’s civic life grade?
B Richland Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #384 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 Richland 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.