Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Sanilac Township’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Sanilac District Library serves 4,182 people in and around Sanilac Township. Last year it lent 61K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
What Sanilac Township’s library is like
More library cards than residents
5,522 cards for 4,182 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Sanilac District Library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 38% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 49% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Sanilac District Library serves 4,182 people in and around Sanilac Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sanilac Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sanilac Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. Sanilac 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Sanilac Township
5.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
18.0%
18.0% of Sanilac 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 Sanilac Township’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
61K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,212 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sanilac District Library serves 4,182 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sanilac District Library system. The library’s own count.
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
Sanilac District Library, 7130 Main Street, Port Sanilac.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sanilac District Library branch.
New in Sanilac 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 $5.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sanilac Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $178K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $960K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $178K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 5,522 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanilac Township | Sanilac District Library | — | 35 | A |
| Port Sanilac | Sanilac District Library | — | 35 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Forester 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. Sanilac District Library serves 4,182 people in and around Sanilac Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sanilac 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 Sanilac Township
Does Sanilac Township have a public library?
Yes. Sanilac District Library, 7130 Main Street, serves 4,182 people in and around Sanilac Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sanilac District Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sanilac Township’s library?
It logged 6.7 visits and lent 14.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sanilac Township’s civic life grade?
A Sanilac Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Sanilac 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.