Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainFishers’ library is a branch of Hamilton East Public Library, which lends more per resident than 93% of systems its size
Fishers’s library is the Fishers Library, a branch of Hamilton East Public Library, which serves 180,617 people and lent 2.3M items last year.
What Fishers’s library is like
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 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
The Hamilton East Public Library system lends 9.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Fishers branch is open about 68 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 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% 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; Fishers’s library is a branch of Hamilton East Public Library, so they cover the whole system (180,617 people), not just the Fishers branch.
What’s behind Fishers’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fishers is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #212 of 571 in Indiana. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #52. Fishers is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Fishers’ 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 →
341 community nonprofits are registered in Fishers
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (89 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 26 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.0%
10.0% of Fishers’ 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 Fishers’ residents live; 2022.
About 16 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Hamilton East Public Library serves 180,617 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 324 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hamilton East Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
632,384 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Fishers Library, Five Municipal Drive, Fishers.
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 Hamilton East Public Library branch.
New in Fishers? 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 $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fishers cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $34M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 87,907 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fishers | Fishers Library fine-free | — | 68 | B+ |
| Delaware Township | Fishers Library fine-free | — | 68 | B+ |
| Noblesville | Hamilton East Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | B+ |
| Clay Township | Carmel Clay Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | A |
| Carmel | Carmel Clay Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | A |
| Lawrence Township | Fort Ben Branch fine-free | — | 55 | C+ |
| Indianapolis | Indianapolis Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | B− |
| Vernon Township | Fortville-Vernon Township Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | B |
| Fortville | Fortville-Vernon Township Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | A− |
| Fall Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| McCordsville | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Fishers Library is one branch of Hamilton East Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 180,617 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 Fishers
Does Fishers have a public library?
Yes: Fishers Library, Five Municipal Drive, is a branch of Hamilton East Public Library, which serves 180,617 people. The branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hamilton East 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 Fishers’ library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 12.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fishers’ civic life grade?
B+ Fishers 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 Fishers.
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.