Packard Proving Grounds Gateway Complex · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Shelby Township’s library runs 5.7 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Shelby Township Library serves Shelby Township’s 79,408 residents. Last year it lent 311K books, movies and e-books and logged 116K visits.
What stands out about Shelby Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Shelby Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Shelby Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #681 of 697 in Michigan. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Shelby Township Library spends $20 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$114K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
143 community nonprofits are registered in Shelby Township
1.8 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Shelby 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 Shelby Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Shelby Township Library serves 79,408 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 127 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
311K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 110K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
67,576 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Shelby Township last year.
Find it
Shelby Township Library, 52610 Van Dyke Avenue, Shelby Township.
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 Shelby 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 $2.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shelby Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 38,909 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Shelby Township ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utica | Utica Public Library | 5.2 | 41 | C− |
| Shelby Township | Shelby Township Library fine-free | 3.9 | 57 | D |
| Sterling Heights | Sterling Heights Public Library | 3.6 | 56 | D− |
| Macomb Township | North Branch | — | 66 | D |
| Washington Township | Romeo District Library fine-free | — | 67 | C− |
| Rochester | Rochester Hills Public Library | — | 69 | 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 Shelby Township
Does Shelby Township have a public library?
Yes. Shelby Township Library, 52610 Van Dyke Avenue, serves Shelby Township’s 79,408 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shelby Township 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 Shelby Township’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Shelby Township’s civic life grade?
D Shelby Township is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #681 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 Shelby 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.