Romeo Historic District · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Washington Township’s library lends 6.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Romeo District Library serves 37,489 people in and around Washington Township. Last year it lent 291K books, movies and e-books and logged 111K visits.
What stands out about Romeo District Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Washington Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Washington Township is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #648 of 697 in Michigan. Washington Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Washington Township
2.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (23 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Washington 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 Washington Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Romeo District Library serves 37,489 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Romeo District Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
291K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
50,571 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Romeo District Library, 65821 Van Dyke Avenue, Washington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Romeo District Library branch.
New in Washington 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 $2.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Washington Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 19,298 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Township | Ray Township Public Library | 4.0 | 35 | B− |
| Shelby Township | Shelby Township Library fine-free | 3.9 | 57 | D |
| Washington Township | Romeo District Library fine-free | — | 67 | C− |
| Bruce Township | Kezar Library fine-free | — | 48 | B− |
| Oakland Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Romeo District Library serves 37,489 people in and around Washington Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Washington 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 Washington Township
Does Washington Township have a public library?
Yes. Romeo District Library, 65821 Van Dyke Avenue, serves 37,489 people in and around Washington Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Romeo District 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 Washington Township’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Washington Township’s civic life grade?
C− Washington Township is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #648 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 Washington 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.