Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Huntington’s library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Huntington City-Township Public Library serves 21,395 people in and around Huntington. Last year it lent 256K books, movies and e-books and logged 119K visits.
What Huntington’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
Huntington City-Township Public Library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 48% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Huntington City-Township Public Library spends $108 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) 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; Huntington City-Township Public Library serves 21,395 people in and around Huntington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Huntington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Huntington is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #127 of 571 in Indiana. Huntington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Huntington’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 →
92 community nonprofits are registered in Huntington
5.4 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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.0%
9.0% of Huntington’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 Huntington’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
256K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
62,407 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Huntington City-Township Public Library serves 21,395 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Huntington City-Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 5 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.
Find it
Huntington City-Township Public Library, 255 West Park Drive, Huntington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Huntington City-Township Public Library branch.
New in Huntington? 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 $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Huntington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 11,582 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Huntington City-Township Public Library serves 21,395 people in and around Huntington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Huntington.
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 Huntington
Does Huntington have a public library?
Yes. Huntington City-Township Public Library, 255 West Park Drive, serves 21,395 people in and around Huntington (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Huntington City-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 Huntington’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 12.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Huntington’s civic life grade?
A− Huntington is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #127 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 Huntington.
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.