Patoka’s library lends 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Patoka Public Library serves Patoka’s 525 residents. Last year it lent 978 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,452 visits.
What Patoka’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
49% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 46%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
Patoka Public Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Patoka Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Patoka Public Library serves 525 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Patoka Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Patoka’s civic life grade
Patoka isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Patoka Public Library serves 525 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
978 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,757 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
283 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
20 programs a year
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 Patoka last year.
Find it
Patoka Public Library, 210 West Bond Street, Patoka.
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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Patoka cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 82 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Patoka
Does Patoka have a public library?
Yes. Patoka Public Library, 210 West Bond Street, serves Patoka’s 525 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Patoka Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Patoka’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Patoka’s civic life grade?
Patoka isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Patoka.
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.