Downtown Butler Historic District · Public domainButler’s library runs 109 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Butler Public Library serves 4,833 people in and around Butler. Last year it lent 19K print books and media and logged 19K visits.
Butler’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Butler Public Library ran 526 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 109 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Butler Public Library serves more than Butler
The library’s service area covers 4,833 people in and around Butler, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
62% of the 526 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 176 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Butler Public Library holds 36,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
Butler invests in its library
Butler Public Library spends $88 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (89%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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.
What’s behind Butler’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Butler is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #259 of 571 in Indiana. Butler is graded on two of the three inputs. Butler’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Butler
6.4 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.
6.2%
6.2% of Butler’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 Butler’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Butler Public Library serves 4,833 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Butler Public Library, 340 South Broadway, Butler.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Butler? 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 Butler cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $425K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $325K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $425K 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 1,204 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Butler
Does Butler have a public library?
Yes. Butler Public Library, 340 South Broadway, serves 4,833 people in and around Butler (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Butler 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 Butler’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 4.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Butler’s civic life grade?
B Butler is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #259 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 Butler.
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.