Photo: Public domain · Public domainColumbia City’s library logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Peabody Public Library serves 15,874 people in and around Columbia City. Last year it lent 209K books, movies and e-books and logged 306K visits.
What Columbia City’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Peabody Public Library logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 9.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Peabody Public Library ran 867 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 55 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Peabody Public Library spends $91 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (88%) 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; Peabody Public Library serves 15,874 people in and around Columbia City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Columbia City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbia City is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #265 of 571 in Indiana. Columbia City is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Columbia City’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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Columbia City
3.1 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.7%
9.7% of Columbia City’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 Columbia City’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Peabody Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Peabody Public Library serves 15,874 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
209K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
55,600 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Peabody Public Library, 1160 East Highway 205, Columbia City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Peabody Public Library branch.
New in Columbia City? 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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbia City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 5,778 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia City | Peabody Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B |
| Columbia Township | Peabody Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B |
| Thorncreek Township | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Columbia City’s 305,700 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- System-wide. Peabody Public Library serves 15,874 people in and around Columbia City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Columbia City.
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 Columbia City
Does Columbia City have a public library?
Yes. Peabody Public Library, 1160 East Highway 205, serves 15,874 people in and around Columbia City (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peabody 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 Columbia City’s library?
It logged 19.3 visits and lent 13.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Columbia City’s civic life grade?
B Columbia City is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #265 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 Columbia City.
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.