Waterford Village Historic District · Photo: Fanfair · CC BY-SA 3.0Waterford Township’s library runs 5.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Waterford Township Public Library serves Waterford Township’s 70,852 residents. Last year it lent 301K books, movies and e-books and logged 88K visits.
What stands out about Waterford Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Waterford Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Waterford Township is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #659 of 697 in Michigan. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$96K) 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 →
160 community nonprofits are registered in Waterford Township
2.3 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 (43 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Waterford 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 Waterford 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.
Waterford Township Public Library serves 70,852 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 105 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
301K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 112K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
90,792 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 Waterford Township last year.
Find it
Waterford Township Public Library, 5168 Civic Center Drive, Waterford.
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 Waterford 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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waterford Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 16,810 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Waterford Township ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orion Township | Orion Township Public Library fine-free | 12.0 | 60 | B− |
| White Lake Township | White Lake Township Library | 7.9 | 54 | C |
| Independence Township | Clarkston Independence District Library fine-free | 7.2 | 61 | C+ |
| Auburn Hills | Auburn Hills Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 59 | C |
| Waterford Township | Waterford Township Public Library fine-free | 4.3 | 55 | C− |
| Pontiac | Pontiac Public Library | 0.6 | 52 | D |
| West Bloomfield Township | West Bloomfield Township Public Library | — | 68 | B+ |
| Lake Angelus | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sylvan Lake | 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 Waterford Township
Does Waterford Township have a public library?
Yes. Waterford Township Public Library, 5168 Civic Center Drive, serves Waterford Township’s 70,852 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waterford Township Public 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 Waterford Township’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Waterford Township’s civic life grade?
C− Waterford Township is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #659 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 Waterford 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.