Evergreen Hill · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCentre Township’s library is a branch of St. Joseph County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 88% of systems its size
Centre Township’s library is the Centre Township Branch, a branch of St. Joseph County Public Library, which serves 170,799 people and lent 2.1M items last year.
What Centre Township’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
The St. Joseph County Public Library system logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 7.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
The St. Joseph County Public Library system spends $107 per resident a year, about three times the typical $36 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. 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; Centre Township’s library is a branch of St. Joseph County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (170,799 people), not just the Centre Township branch.
What’s behind Centre Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Centre Township is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #543 of 571 in Indiana. Centre Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$99K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Centre Township
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (14 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.
6.2%
6.2% of Centre 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 Centre Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 74 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. Joseph County 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.
St. Joseph County Public Library serves 170,799 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
723,590 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 23 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
Centre Township Branch, 1150 East Kern Road, South Bend.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. Joseph County Public Library branch.
New in Centre Township? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Centre Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $18M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $32M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $18M 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 72,558 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centre Township | Centre Township Branch fine-free | — | 56 | D |
| Portage Township | St. Joseph County Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | B− |
| Union Township | Lakeville Branch fine-free | — | 43 | A |
| Penn Township | Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library | — | 56 | D |
| Greene Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Centre Township Branch is one branch of St. Joseph County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 170,799 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 Centre Township
Does Centre Township have a public library?
Yes: Centre Township Branch, 1150 East Kern Road, is a branch of St. Joseph County Public Library, which serves 170,799 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. Joseph 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 Centre Township’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 12.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Centre Township’s civic life grade?
D Centre Township is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #543 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 Centre 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.