Wayland Downtown Historic District · Photo: Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0Wayland’s library logs 9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Henika District Library serves 7,978 people in and around Wayland. Last year it lent 46K print books and media and logged 72K visits.
Wayland’s library, in brief
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Henika District Library logs 9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 81% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Henika District Library serves 7,978 people in and around Wayland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wayland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wayland is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #470 of 697 in Michigan. Wayland is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Wayland’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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Wayland
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.5%
10.5% of Wayland’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 Wayland’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Henika District Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Henika District Library serves 7,978 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
46K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Henika District Library, 149 South Main Street, Wayland.
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 Henika District Library branch.
New in Wayland? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wayland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $381K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $728K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $381K 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 1,567 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leighton Township | Leighton Township Library fine-free | 13.0 | 39 | B− |
| Wayland | Henika District Library fine-free | — | 50 | B− |
| Wayland 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Henika District Library serves 7,978 people in and around Wayland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wayland.
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 Wayland
Does Wayland have a public library?
Yes. Henika District Library, 149 South Main Street, serves 7,978 people in and around Wayland (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Henika 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 Wayland’s library?
It logged 9.0 visits and lent 5.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wayland’s civic life grade?
B− Wayland is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #470 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 Wayland.
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.