Photo: ShadZ01 · CC BY-SA 4.0St. Joseph Township has no public library of its own; the nearest is Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library in Saint Joseph, 2.7 miles away
St. Joseph Township doesn’t have a public library of its own. The closest is Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library in Saint Joseph, 2.7 miles away. Many small-town libraries give cards to neighbors, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
B+Civic lifeAhead of 66% of U.S. towns · #302 of 697 in Michigan. Nonprofits and volunteering.Libraries for St. Joseph Township, in brief
St. Joseph Township borrows from the libraries next door
St. Joseph Township has no public library of its own, but four libraries are within 10 miles, the closest being Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library in Saint Joseph (2.7 miles). Many small-town libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead. Nearest libraries ↓
St. Joseph Township isn’t the only town nearby without one
Shoreham, Fair Plain and Royalton Township don’t have a public library of their own either. Among the towns next door, St. Joseph (Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library), Benton Harbor (Benton Harbor Public Library) and Lincoln Township (Lincoln Township Public Library) do. Libraries next door ↓
The closest isn’t the one open longest
Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library is nearest, open about 53 hours a week. Lincoln Township Public Library, 4 miles away, is open about 63 hours a week, so it may be easier to fit in. Nearest libraries ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Distances are straight-line from the town center.
What’s behind St. Joseph Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Joseph Township is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #302 of 697 in Michigan. St. Joseph Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; St. Joseph Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in St. Joseph Township
4.5 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph Township’s residents live; 2022.
The closest is 2.7 miles away
Closest first, measured from the center of St. Joseph Township. Each one’s hours, and whether it charges late fines.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph | Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library | — | 53 | A− |
| Benton Harbor | Benton Harbor Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| Lincoln Township | Lincoln Township Public Library | — | 63 | B+ |
| Shoreham | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Fair Plain | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Royalton Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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 St. Joseph Township
Does St. Joseph Township have a public library?
No. The closest is Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library in Saint Joseph, 2.7 miles from the town center. Many libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
What is St. Joseph Township’s civic life grade?
B+ St. Joseph Township is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #302 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 St. Joseph 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.