Photo: Evking22 · CC BY-SA 4.0Chester Township’s library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
North Manchester Public Library serves Chester Township’s 5,277 residents. Last year it lent 94K books, movies and e-books and logged 82K visits.
What Chester Township’s library is like
Chester Township uses its library more than almost any town its size
North Manchester Public Library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Chester Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
11,000 people came to the library’s 441 programs last year: 2.1 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Chester Township invests in its library
North Manchester Public Library spends $107 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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 Chester Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chester Township is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #287 of 571 in Indiana. Chester Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Chester Township’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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Chester Township
4.4 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Chester 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 Chester Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
North Manchester Public Library serves 5,277 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
94K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 67K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
28,708 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Chester Township last year.
Find it
North Manchester Public Library, 405 North Market Street, North Manchester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Chester 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 $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chester Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $567K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $567K 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 2,976 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Township | North Manchester Public Library fine-free | 17.7 | 60 | B |
| North Manchester | North Manchester Public Library fine-free | 17.7 | 60 | B |
| Pleasant Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Jackson Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Warren Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lagro Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Liberty Mills | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits count everyone. Chester Township’s 82,089 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Chester Township
Does Chester Township have a public library?
Yes. North Manchester Public Library, 405 North Market Street, serves Chester Township’s 5,277 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Manchester 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 Chester Township’s library?
It logged 15.6 visits and lent 17.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Chester Township’s civic life grade?
B Chester Township is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #287 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 Chester 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.