Chief Jean-Baptiste de Richardville House · Photo: Nancy.mccammon-hansen · CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Wayne’s library logs 4.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Allen County Public Library serves 385,410 people in and around Fort Wayne from 10 locations. Last year it lent 4.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.7M visits.
What Fort Wayne’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Allen County Public Library logs 4.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 8.4 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 71 hours a week
The Fort Wayne branch is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Allen County Public Library spends $95 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; Allen County Public Library serves 385,410 people in and around Fort Wayne, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fort Wayne’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Wayne is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #400 of 571 in Indiana. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #118. Fort Wayne is graded on two of the three inputs. Fort Wayne’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
999 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Wayne
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (416 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 44 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Fort Wayne’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 Wayne’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 111 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Allen County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Allen County Public Library serves 385,410 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,408,115 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 62 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.
10 places to borrow in Fort Wayne
Allen County Public Library, 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Allen County Public Library branch.
New in Fort Wayne? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Allen County Public Library branches in Fort Wayne
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Wayne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $37M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $75M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $37M 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 199,223 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Wayne | Allen County Public Library fine-free | — | 71 | C+ |
| New Haven | New Haven Branch fine-free | — | 57 | C |
| St. Joseph Township | Georgetown Branch fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| Washington Township | Dupont Branch fine-free | — | 60 | C+ |
| Huntertown | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Perry Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Eel River Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Milan 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. Allen County Public Library serves 385,410 people in and around Fort Wayne, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fort Wayne.
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 Wayne
Does Fort Wayne have a public library?
Yes. Allen County Public Library, 900 Library Plaza, serves 385,410 people in and around Fort Wayne (the survey’s count) and is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Allen 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 Fort Wayne’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 12.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fort Wayne’s civic life grade?
C+ Fort Wayne is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #400 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 Wayne.
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.