Bourbon Residential Historic District · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Bourbon’s library lends 6.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bourbon Public Library serves 5,683 people in and around Bourbon. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
Bourbon’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 66% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 189 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 69% of similar-size libraries. 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; Bourbon Public Library serves 5,683 people in and around Bourbon, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bourbon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bourbon is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. Bourbon 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 Bourbon
6.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (1 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.
13.2%
13.2% of Bourbon’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 Bourbon’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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bourbon Public Library serves 5,683 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bourbon Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,917 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bourbon Public Library, 307 North Main Street, Bourbon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bourbon Public Library branch.
New in Bourbon? 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 $3.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bourbon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $205K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $652K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $205K 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 2,865 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bourbon Public Library serves 5,683 people in and around Bourbon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bourbon.
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 Bourbon
Does Bourbon have a public library?
Yes. Bourbon Public Library, 307 North Main Street, serves 5,683 people in and around Bourbon (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bourbon 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 Bourbon’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bourbon’s civic life grade?
A+ Bourbon is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Bourbon.
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.