Kokomo High School and Memorial Gymnasium · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainKokomo’s library logs 4.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Kokomo-Howard County Public Library serves 77,304 people in and around Kokomo from 2 locations. Last year it lent 702K books, movies and e-books and logged 343K visits.
Kokomo’s library, in brief
Open about 65 hours a week
The Kokomo branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Kokomo-Howard County Public Library spends $88 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) 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; Kokomo-Howard County Public Library serves 77,304 people in and around Kokomo, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Kokomo’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kokomo is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #368 of 571 in Indiana. Kokomo is graded on two of the three inputs. Kokomo’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
226 community nonprofits are registered in Kokomo
3.8 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 (109 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of Kokomo’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 Kokomo’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
702K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
216,623 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Kokomo-Howard County Public Library serves 77,304 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kokomo-Howard County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 9 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.
2 places to borrow in Kokomo
Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, 220 North Union Street, Kokomo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kokomo-Howard County Public Library branch.
New in Kokomo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Kokomo-Howard County Public Library branches in Kokomo
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kokomo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.8M 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 33,130 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kokomo | Kokomo-Howard County Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| Center Township | Kokomo-Howard County Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| Clay Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Kokomo-Howard County Public Library serves 77,304 people in and around Kokomo, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kokomo.
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 Kokomo
Does Kokomo have a public library?
Yes. Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, 220 North Union Street, serves 77,304 people in and around Kokomo (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kokomo-Howard 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 Kokomo’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Kokomo’s civic life grade?
B− Kokomo is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #368 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 Kokomo.
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.