Photo: Nyttend · Public domainGoodland’s library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Goodland & Grant Township Public Library serves 1,100 people in and around Goodland. Last year it lent 5,879 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,250 visits.
The short version on Goodland’s library
More library cards than residents
1,142 cards for 1,100 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 78% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 81% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Goodland-Grant Township Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004. Today’s library there has 6,480 square feet. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Goodland & Grant Township Public Library spends $140 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) 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; Goodland & Grant Township Public Library serves 1,100 people in and around Goodland, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Goodland’s civic life grade
Goodland isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Goodland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $154K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $86K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $154K 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 1,142 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Goodland & Grant Township Public Library serves 1,100 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Goodland & Grant Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
5,879 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
640 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
63 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
A National Register landmark since 2004
Goodland & Grant Township Public Library, 111 South Newton Street, Goodland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Goodland & Grant Township Public Library branch.
New in Goodland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Goodland-Grant Township Public Library
Goodland-Grant Township Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 29, 2004. It is significant for its architecture and education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival.
Goodland-Grant Township Public Library, also known as the Mitten Memorial Building, is a historic library building located at Goodland, Indiana. It was built in 1931, and is a one-story, rectangular, Colonial Revival style steel frame building on a raised basement. It has hollow tile walls, is sheathed in limestone, and has a slate gable roof. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
More about the building →What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Goodland & Grant Township Public Library serves 1,100 people in and around Goodland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Goodland.
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 Goodland
Does Goodland have a public library?
Yes. Goodland & Grant Township Public Library, 111 South Newton Street, serves 1,100 people in and around Goodland (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Goodland & Grant 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 Goodland’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Goodland’s civic life grade?
Goodland isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Goodland.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.