Faunce-McMichael Farm · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Tuscarora Township’s library runs 86 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Indian River Area Library serves 4,608 people in and around Tuscarora Township. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What stands out about Indian River Area Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Tuscarora Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Tuscarora Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #50 of 697 in Michigan. Tuscarora 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Tuscarora Township
5.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.1%
14.1% of Tuscarora 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 Tuscarora Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Indian River Area Library serves 4,608 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Indian River Area Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,904 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Indian River Area Library, 3546 South Straits Highway, Indian River.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Indian River Area Library branch.
New in Tuscarora 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 $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tuscarora Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $211K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $373K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $211K 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 1,557 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuscarora Township | Indian River Area Library | — | 43 | A |
| Indian River | Indian River Area Library | — | 43 | — graded as part of its town |
| Littlefield Township | Alanson Area Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | B |
| Mullett Township | Topinabee Public Library fine-free | — | 33 | A+ |
| Koehler Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Mentor Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Burt Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ellis 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. Indian River Area Library serves 4,608 people in and around Tuscarora Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Tuscarora 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 Tuscarora Township
Does Tuscarora Township have a public library?
Yes. Indian River Area Library, 3546 South Straits Highway, serves 4,608 people in and around Tuscarora Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Indian River Area 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 Tuscarora Township’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tuscarora Township’s civic life grade?
A Tuscarora Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #50 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 Tuscarora 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.