Jefferson Township’s library lends 6.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library serves 1,987 people in and around Jefferson Township. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,300 visits.
What Jefferson Township’s library is like
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library spends $125 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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; Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library serves 1,987 people in and around Jefferson Township, 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 Jefferson Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Jefferson Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Jefferson Township’s 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Jefferson Township
2.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.7%
10.7% of Jefferson Township’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 Jefferson Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library serves 1,987 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,423 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library, 201 East Graham Street, Kentland.
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 Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library branch.
New in Jefferson Township? 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 $1.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jefferson Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $248K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $348K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $248K 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 1,476 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Township | Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| York Township | York Township Public Library fine-free | — | 8 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Grant Township | Goodland & Grant Township Public Library | — | 32 | B− |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Concord Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library serves 1,987 people in and around Jefferson Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jefferson Township.
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 Jefferson Township
Does Jefferson Township have a public library?
Yes. Kentland-Jefferson Township Public Library, 201 East Graham Street, serves 1,987 people in and around Jefferson Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kentland-Jefferson Township 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 Jefferson Township’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Jefferson Township’s civic life grade?
B− Jefferson Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Jefferson Township.
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.