Tippecanoe Battlefield · Photo: Jim Hammer from Lafayette, Indiana, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Fairfield Township’s library lends 7.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Tippecanoe County Public Library serves 141,306 people in and around Fairfield Township. Last year it lent 1.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 238K visits.
Fairfield Township’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 67%. People come in, pick up their books and go, or skip the trip: 32% of loans are digital. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Tippecanoe County Public Library offered 638 programs last year, 4.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The Fairfield Township branch is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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; Tippecanoe County Public Library serves 141,306 people in and around Fairfield Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fairfield Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairfield Township is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #199 of 571 in Indiana. Fairfield Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Fairfield Township’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 →
250 community nonprofits are registered in Fairfield Township
4.7 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 (64 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Fairfield Township’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 Fairfield Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tippecanoe County Public Library serves 141,306 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 123 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tippecanoe County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
498,804 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Tippecanoe County Public Library, 627 South Street, Lafayette.
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 Tippecanoe County Public Library branch.
New in Fairfield Township? 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 $4.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairfield Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $23M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.4M 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 109,831 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabash Township | West Lafayette Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 60 | B− |
| Fairfield Township | Tippecanoe County Public Library fine-free | — | 66 | B+ |
| Perry Township | Wyandotte Branch fine-free | — | 60 | C− |
| Wea Township | Wea Prairie Branch fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| Lafayette | Tippecanoe County Public Library fine-free | — | 66 | B+ |
| Tippecanoe Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Shadeland | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Union 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. Tippecanoe County Public Library serves 141,306 people in and around Fairfield Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fairfield Township.
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 Fairfield Township
Does Fairfield Township have a public library?
Yes. Tippecanoe County Public Library, 627 South Street, serves 141,306 people in and around Fairfield Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tippecanoe 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 Fairfield Township’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fairfield Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Fairfield Township is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #199 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 Fairfield Township.
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.