Photo: Nyttend · Public domainColfax’s library runs 108 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Colfax-Perry Township Public Library serves 1,494 people in and around Colfax. Last year it lent 3,790 print books and media and logged 3,000 visits.
The short version on Colfax’s library
Well funded, but lightly used
Colfax-Perry Township Public Library spends $166 per resident, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 75% of them. What your card is worth ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Colfax Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994. Today’s library there has 5,900 square feet. The building ↓
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; Colfax-Perry Township Public Library serves 1,494 people in and around Colfax, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Colfax’s civic life grade
Colfax isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Colfax cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $248K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $72K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $248K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 383 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Colfax-Perry Township Public Library serves 1,494 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Colfax-Perry Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3,790 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
A National Register landmark since 1994
Colfax-Perry Township Public Library, 207 South Clark Street, Colfax.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Colfax-Perry Township Public Library branch.
New in Colfax? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Colfax Carnegie Library
Colfax Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 17, 1994. It is significant for its architecture and education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical Revival.
The Colfax Carnegie Library, also known as Colfax Public Library, is a historic Carnegie library located at Colfax, Indiana. It was built in 1917, and is a 1+1⁄2-story, Classical Revival style brick building on a raised basement. It features a red terra cotta style hipped roof and decorative frieze. It was built in part with $9,000 provided by the Carnegie Foundation.
More about the building →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.
- System-wide. Colfax-Perry Township Public Library serves 1,494 people in and around Colfax, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Colfax.
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 Colfax
Does Colfax have a public library?
Yes. Colfax-Perry Township Public Library, 207 South Clark Street, serves 1,494 people in and around Colfax (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Colfax-Perry Township Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Colfax’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Colfax’s civic life grade?
Colfax isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Colfax.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.