Sherman City Union Church · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Sherman Township’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Sherman Township Library serves 5,712 people in and around Sherman Township. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,326 visits.
The short version on Sherman Township’s library
Sherman Township Library is used less than most libraries its size
Sherman Township Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Sherman Township Library spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Sherman Township Library serves 5,712 people in and around Sherman Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sherman Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sherman Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #377 of 697 in Michigan. Sherman Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Sherman 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Sherman Township
2.1 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.3%
14.3% of Sherman 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 Sherman Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sherman Township Library serves 5,712 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sherman Township Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,287 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
72 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Sherman Township Library, 3453 North School Road, Weidman.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sherman Township Library branch.
New in Sherman 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 $2.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sherman Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $87K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $197K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $87K 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 929 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherman Township | Sherman Township Library | — | 34 | B |
| Broomfield Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Nottawa Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Sheridan Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Lake Isabella | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Coldwater Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Weidman | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Sherman Township Library serves 5,712 people in and around Sherman Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sherman 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 Sherman Township
Does Sherman Township have a public library?
Yes. Sherman Township Library, 3453 North School Road, serves 5,712 people in and around Sherman Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sherman Township 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 Sherman Township’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sherman Township’s civic life grade?
B Sherman Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #377 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 Sherman 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.