Photo: PeRshGo · CC BY-SA 4.0Westland’s library lends 2.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
William P. Faust Public Library of Westland serves Westland’s 85,420 residents. Last year it lent 272K books, movies and e-books and logged 168K visits.
The short version on Westland’s library
More library cards than residents
137,792 cards for 85,420 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
William P. Faust Public Library of Westland is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out. The building ↓
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.
What’s behind Westland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westland is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #673 of 697 in Michigan. All three 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 ($47K–$78K) 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 →
143 community nonprofits are registered in Westland
1.7 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 (62 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Westland’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 Westland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
William P. Faust Public Library of Westland serves 85,420 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
272K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 138K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
77,582 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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, by who they’re for.
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Westland last year.
Find it
William P. Faust Public Library of Westland, 6123 Central City Parkway, Westland.
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 Westland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westland cardholder borrows.
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 137,792 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Westland ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton Township | Canton Public Library fine-free | 13.8 | 69 | C+ |
| Livonia | Livonia Public Library fine-free | 8.6 | 49 | C+ |
| Westland | William P. Faust Public Library of Westland fine-free | 3.2 | 67 | D |
| Garden City | Garden City Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 50 | C− |
| Wayne | Wayne Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 48 | C |
| Dearborn Heights | Dearborn Heights City Libraries fine-free | 2.6 | 54 | C |
| Inkster | Leanna Hicks Public Library of Inkster | 0.3 | 37 | D− |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Westland
Does Westland have a public library?
Yes. William P. Faust Public Library of Westland, 6123 Central City Parkway, serves Westland’s 85,420 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is William P. Faust Public Library of Westland 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 Westland’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Westland’s civic life grade?
D Westland is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #673 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 Westland.
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.