Richard and Mary Woodward Gregory House · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Ross Township’s library runs 8.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Augusta-Ross Township District Library serves 7,332 people in and around Ross Township. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What stands out about Augusta-Ross Township District Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ross Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ross Township is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #153 of 697 in Michigan. Ross Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Ross Township
4.6 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.2%
10.2% of Ross 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 Ross Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Augusta-Ross Township District Library serves 7,332 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Augusta-Ross Township District Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,558 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
61 programs a year
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
Augusta-Ross Township District Library, 105 South Webster Street, Augusta.
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 Augusta-Ross Township District Library branch.
New in Ross 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 $2.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ross Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $226K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $510K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $226K 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 4,160 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross Township | Augusta-Ross Township District Library fine-free | — | 41 | A− |
| Richland Township | Richland Community Library fine-free | — | 34 | A− |
| Augusta | Augusta-Ross Township District Library fine-free | — | 41 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Barry Township | Delton District Library | — | 46 | A− |
| Charleston Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| South Gull Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Bedford 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. Augusta-Ross Township District Library serves 7,332 people in and around Ross Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ross 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 Ross Township
Does Ross Township have a public library?
Yes. Augusta-Ross Township District Library, 105 South Webster Street, serves 7,332 people in and around Ross Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Augusta-Ross Township 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 Ross Township’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ross Township’s civic life grade?
A− Ross Township is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #153 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 Ross 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.