Charles Sweeton House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCenter Township’s library is a branch of Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library, which lends more per resident than 70% of systems its size
Center Township’s library is the North Park Branch Library, a branch of Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library, which serves 180,136 people and lent 1.4M items last year.
What Center Township’s library is like
Visits are the system’s strong suit
The Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library system logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
The Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library system spends $86 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) 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; Center Township’s library is a branch of Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library, so they cover the whole system (180,136 people), not just the Center Township branch.
What’s behind Center Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Center Township is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #313 of 571 in Indiana. Center Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Center Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
124 community nonprofits are registered in Center Township
3.0 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 (27 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.1%
9.1% of Center 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 Center Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 59 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library serves 180,136 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
556,723 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 24 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.
2 places to borrow in Center Township
North Park Branch Library, 960 Koehler Drive, Evansville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library branch.
New in Center Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library branches in Center Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Center Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $15M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $22M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 79,994 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pigeon Township | Willard Library of Evansville fine-free | 1.6 | 60 | A |
| Center Township | North Park Branch Library fine-free | — | 61 | B− |
| Knight Township | Mccollough Branch Library fine-free | — | 61 | B− |
| Evansville | Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | B+ |
| Scott Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Campbell Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Melody Hill | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Darmstadt | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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. North Park Branch Library is one branch of Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 180,136 people it serves.
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 Center Township
Does Center Township have a public library?
Yes: North Park Branch Library, 960 Koehler Drive, is a branch of Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library, which serves 180,136 people. The branch is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Evansville-Vanderburgh 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 Center Township’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Center Township’s civic life grade?
B− Center Township is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #313 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 Center 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.