Photo: Bedford · Public domainClarksville’s library is a branch of Jeffersonville Township Public Library, which lends less per resident than 54% of systems its size
Clarksville’s library is the Clarksville Branch Library, a branch of Jeffersonville Township Public Library, which serves 61,469 people and lent 308K items last year.
What stands out about Clarksville Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Clarksville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Clarksville is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #521 of 571 in Indiana. Clarksville 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 ($45K–$76K) 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 →
47 community nonprofits are registered in Clarksville
2.1 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 (22 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.
7.2%
7.2% of Clarksville’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 Clarksville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Jeffersonville Township Public Library serves 61,469 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jeffersonville Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
308K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
97,986 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Clarksville Branch Library, 1312 Eastern Boulevard, Clarksville.
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 Jeffersonville Township Public Library branch.
New in Clarksville? 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 $1.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clarksville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 34,276 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarksville | Clarksville Branch Library fine-free | — | 60 | C− |
| Jeffersonville Township | Jeffersonville Township Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| Louisville | Louisville Free Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | C+ |
| Sellersburg | Sellersburg Branch fine-free | — | 60 | C+ |
| New Albany Township | New Albany-Floyd County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B+ |
| Jeffersonville | Jeffersonville Township Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| New Albany | New Albany-Floyd County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | A− |
| Silver Creek Township | Sellersburg Branch fine-free | — | 60 | C+ |
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. Clarksville Branch Library is one branch of Jeffersonville Township Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 61,469 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 Clarksville
Does Clarksville have a public library?
Yes: Clarksville Branch Library, 1312 Eastern Boulevard, is a branch of Jeffersonville Township Public Library, which serves 61,469 people. The branch is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jeffersonville Township 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 Clarksville’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Clarksville’s civic life grade?
C− Clarksville is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #521 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 Clarksville.
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.