Max and Esther De Pree House · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Zeeland’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Howard Miller Library serves 25,071 people in and around Zeeland. Last year it lent 405K books, movies and e-books and logged 106K visits.
What Zeeland’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 63% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Howard Miller Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 195 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Howard Miller Library serves 25,071 people in and around Zeeland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Zeeland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Zeeland is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #562 of 697 in Michigan. Zeeland is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Zeeland’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$66K) 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Zeeland
2.7 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 (9 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.
8.4%
8.4% of Zeeland’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 Zeeland’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Howard Miller Library serves 25,071 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 140 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Howard Miller Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
405K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
66,668 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Howard Miller Library, 14 South Church Street, Zeeland.
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 Howard Miller Library branch.
New in Zeeland? 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 $5.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Zeeland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 9,362 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zeeland | Howard Miller Library fine-free | — | 56 | C+ |
| Holland Township | North Side Branch fine-free | — | 53 | — graded with its twin city |
| Zeeland Township | 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.
- System-wide. Howard Miller Library serves 25,071 people in and around Zeeland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Zeeland.
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 Zeeland
Does Zeeland have a public library?
Yes. Howard Miller Library, 14 South Church Street, serves 25,071 people in and around Zeeland (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Howard Miller 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 Zeeland’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 16.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Zeeland’s civic life grade?
C+ Zeeland is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #562 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 Zeeland.
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.