Photo: Daniel Schwen · CC BY-SA 4.0Covington’s library runs 73 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Covington-Veedersburg Public Library serves 6,654 people in and around Covington. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What stands out about Covington-Veedersburg Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Covington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Covington is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #60 of 571 in Indiana. Covington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Covington’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Covington
9.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Covington’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 Covington’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Covington-Veedersburg Public Library serves 6,654 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Covington-Veedersburg Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
15,707 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Covington-Veedersburg Public Library, 622 5th Street, Covington.
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 Covington-Veedersburg Public Library branch.
New in Covington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Library of Covington
Carnegie Library of Covington was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 3, 1989. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical Revival.
The Carnegie Library of Covington, also known as Covington Public Library, is a historic Carnegie library located at the corner of Fifth and Crockett Streets (622 S. Fifth St.), Covington, Indiana. It was built in 1913–1914 by Charles A. Brown and is a one-story, rectangular brick building in the Neoclassical style.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Covington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $443K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $973K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $443K 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 2,013 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Covington-Veedersburg Public Library serves 6,654 people in and around Covington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Covington.
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 Covington
Does Covington have a public library?
Yes. Covington-Veedersburg Public Library, 622 5th Street, serves 6,654 people in and around Covington (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Covington-Veedersburg 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 Covington’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 8.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Covington’s civic life grade?
A Covington is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #60 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 Covington.
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.