Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Branch’s library lends 7.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library serves 8,866 people in and around Fort Branch. Last year it lent 85K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
Fort Branch’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
62% of the 517 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 151 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% 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; Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library serves 8,866 people in and around Fort Branch, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fort Branch’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Branch is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #28 of 571 in Indiana. Fort Branch is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Branch
6.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.0%
13.0% of Fort Branch’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 Fort Branch’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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library serves 8,866 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
85K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
22,142 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library, 107 East Locust Street, Fort Branch.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library branch.
New in Fort Branch? 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 $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Branch cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $526K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $526K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 4,001 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library serves 8,866 people in and around Fort Branch, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fort Branch.
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 Fort Branch
Does Fort Branch have a public library?
Yes. Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library, 107 East Locust Street, serves 8,866 people in and around Fort Branch (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fort Branch-Johnson Township Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fort Branch’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fort Branch’s civic life grade?
A+ Fort Branch is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 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 Fort Branch.
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.