Photo: Nyttend · Public domainAdams Township’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Parke County Public Library serves 14,839 people in and around Adams Township. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What Adams Township’s library is like
Parke County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Parke County Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Parke County Public Library offered 62 programs last year, 4.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. 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; Parke County Public Library serves 14,839 people in and around Adams Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Adams Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Adams Township is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #96 of 571 in Indiana. Adams Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Adams Township
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.8%
9.8% of Adams Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Adams Township’s residents live; 2022.
43% of borrowing is digital
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,276 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Parke County Public Library serves 14,839 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Parke County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
62 programs a year
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
Parke County Public Library, 106 North Market Street, Rockville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Parke County Public Library branch.
New in Adams Township? 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 Adams Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $584K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $506K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $584K 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 2,550 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams Township | Parke County Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | A |
| Reserve Township | Montezuma Public Library | — | 20 | B− |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Union Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Raccoon Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wabash Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Florida Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Penn Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Parke County Public Library serves 14,839 people in and around Adams Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Adams Township.
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 Adams Township
Does Adams Township have a public library?
Yes. Parke County Public Library, 106 North Market Street, serves 14,839 people in and around Adams Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Parke County Public 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 Adams Township’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Adams Township’s civic life grade?
A Adams Township is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #96 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Adams 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.