Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainColumbus’ library lends 6.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Bartholomew County Public Library serves 81,845 people in and around Columbus. Last year it lent 853K books, movies and e-books and logged 235K visits.
What stands out about Bartholomew County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Columbus’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbus is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #212 of 571 in Indiana. Columbus is graded on two of the three inputs. Columbus’ 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 →
263 community nonprofits are registered in Columbus
5.1 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 (85 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Columbus’ 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 Columbus’ residents live; 2022.
42% of borrowing is digital
853K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
357,132 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bartholomew County Public Library serves 81,845 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 109 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bartholomew County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 15 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
Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth Street, Columbus.
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 Bartholomew County Public Library branch.
New in Columbus? 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 $2.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbus cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.5M 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 57,606 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | Bartholomew County Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | B+ |
| Columbus Township | Bartholomew County Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | — graded with its twin city |
| Harrison Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Clay Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| German Township | None of its own | — | — | 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. Bartholomew County Public Library serves 81,845 people in and around Columbus, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Columbus.
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 Columbus
Does Columbus have a public library?
Yes. Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth Street, serves 81,845 people in and around Columbus (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bartholomew 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 Columbus’ library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Columbus’ civic life grade?
B+ Columbus is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #212 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 Columbus.
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.