Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Laurel Township’s library is a branch of Franklin County Public Library District, which lends more per resident than 52% of systems its size
Laurel Township’s library is the Laurel Public Library, a branch of Franklin County Public Library District, which serves 10,596 people and lent 57K items last year.
What Laurel Township’s library is like
A well-funded system
The Franklin County Public Library District system spends $124 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 63% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Laurel Township’s library is a branch of Franklin County Public Library District, so they cover the whole system (10,596 people), not just the Laurel Township branch.
What’s behind Laurel Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Laurel Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns. Laurel Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Laurel 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Laurel Township
3.5 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Laurel 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 Laurel Township’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Laurel Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $981K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 2,322 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Franklin County Public Library District serves 10,596 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Franklin County Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
13,122 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Laurel Public Library, 200 North Clay Street, Laurel.
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 Franklin County Public Library District branch.
New in Laurel Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel Township | Laurel Public Library fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Posey Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Metamora Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Blooming Grove Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Salt Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Lake View | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Columbia Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Jackson 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. Laurel Public Library is one branch of Franklin County Public Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 10,596 people it serves.
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 Laurel Township
Does Laurel Township have a public library?
Yes: Laurel Public Library, 200 North Clay Street, is a branch of Franklin County Public Library District, which serves 10,596 people. The branch is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin County Public Library District 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 Laurel Township’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Laurel Township’s civic life grade?
B− Laurel Township is ahead of 53% 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 Laurel 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.