Dunlap’s library is a branch of Elkhart Public Library, which lends less per resident than 57% of systems its size
Dunlap’s library is the Dunlap Branch Library, a branch of Elkhart Public Library, which serves 97,605 people and lent 506K items last year.
The short version on Dunlap’s library
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 2,245 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 19 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
The Elkhart Public Library system spends $87 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 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; Dunlap’s library is a branch of Elkhart Public Library, so they cover the whole system (97,605 people), not just the Dunlap branch.
What’s behind Dunlap’s civic life grade
Dunlap isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Elkhart Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Dunlap
Dunlap is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.9%
5.9% of Dunlap’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 Dunlap’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dunlap cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $8.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.4M 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 45,340 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Elkhart Public Library serves 97,605 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Elkhart Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
506K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
196,231 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 37 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
Dunlap Branch Library, 58485 East County Road 13, Elkhart.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Elkhart Public Library branch.
New in Dunlap? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
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. Dunlap Branch Library is one branch of Elkhart Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 97,605 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 Dunlap
Does Dunlap have a public library?
Yes: Dunlap Branch Library, 58485 East County Road 13, is a branch of Elkhart Public Library, which serves 97,605 people. The branch is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elkhart 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 Dunlap’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Dunlap’s civic life grade?
Dunlap isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Elkhart Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Dunlap.
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.