Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0White Lake Township’s library lends 7.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
White Lake Township Library serves White Lake Township’s 30,950 residents. Last year it lent 244K print books and media and logged 72K visits.
What stands out about White Lake Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind White Lake Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, White Lake Township is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #609 of 697 in Michigan. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; White Lake Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($71K–$119K) 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 →
64 community nonprofits are registered in White Lake Township
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.3%
9.3% of White Lake 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 White Lake Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 White Lake Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
White Lake Township Library serves 30,950 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 87 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
244K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 86K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
White Lake Township Library, 11005 Elizabeth Lake Rd., White Lake.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in White Lake 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 $2.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average White Lake Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 9,454 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
White Lake Township ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commerce Township | Commerce Township Community Library | 9.3 | 59 | C+ |
| White Lake Township | White Lake Township Library | 7.9 | 54 | C |
| Springfield Township | Springfield Township Library | 6.2 | 49 | C+ |
| Highland Township | Highland Township Public Library fine-free | 5.8 | 52 | B |
| Waterford Township | Waterford Township Public Library fine-free | 4.3 | 55 | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 White Lake Township
Does White Lake Township have a public library?
Yes. White Lake Township Library, 11005 Elizabeth Lake Rd., serves White Lake Township’s 30,950 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is White Lake Township 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 White Lake Township’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 7.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is White Lake Township’s civic life grade?
C White Lake Township is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #609 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 White Lake 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.