Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Bicknell’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library serves 4,520 people in and around Bicknell. Last year it lent 8,463 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,287 visits.
What Bicknell’s library is like
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans. Print still makes up 46%. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
4,055 cards for 4,520 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. 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; Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library serves 4,520 people in and around Bicknell, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bicknell’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bicknell is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #106 of 571 in Indiana. Bicknell 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Bicknell
4.0 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.
15.6%
15.6% of Bicknell’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 Bicknell’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library serves 4,520 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
54% of borrowing is digital
8,463 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,602 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, 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
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library, 201 West 2nd Street, Bicknell.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library branch.
New in Bicknell? 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 Bicknell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $222K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $144K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $222K 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 4,055 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library serves 4,520 people in and around Bicknell, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bicknell.
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 Bicknell
Does Bicknell have a public library?
Yes. Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library, 201 West 2nd Street, serves 4,520 people in and around Bicknell (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bicknell-Vigo Township Public 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 Bicknell’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bicknell’s civic life grade?
A Bicknell is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #106 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 Bicknell.
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.