Photo: ONUnicorn · CC BY-SA 4.0Lawrence Township’s library is a branch of Indianapolis Public Library, which lends more per resident than 77% of systems its size
Lawrence Township’s library is the Fort Ben Branch, a branch of Indianapolis Public Library, which serves 963,251 people and lent 8.7M items last year.
What stands out about Fort Ben Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lawrence Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lawrence Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #417 of 571 in Indiana. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #124. Lawrence Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Lawrence Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
493 community nonprofits are registered in Lawrence Township
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (131 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 18 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Lawrence 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 Lawrence Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Indianapolis Public Library serves 963,251 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 138 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Indianapolis Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,218,547 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 86 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.
3 places to borrow in Lawrence Township
Fort Ben Branch, 9330 East 56th Street, Indianapolis.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Indianapolis Public Library branch.
New in Lawrence Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Indianapolis Public Library branches in Lawrence Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lawrence Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $148M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M 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 289,752 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Township | Fort Ben Branch fine-free | — | 55 | C+ |
| Indianapolis | Indianapolis Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | B− |
| Vernon Township | Fortville-Vernon Township Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | B |
| Washington Township | Glendale Branch Library fine-free | — | 61 | A |
| Fishers | Fishers Library fine-free | — | 68 | B+ |
| Warren Township | Irvington Branch Library fine-free | — | 51 | C |
| Lawrence | Fort Ben Branch fine-free | — | 55 | C− |
| Delaware Township | Fishers Library fine-free | — | 68 | B+ |
| McCordsville | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Fall Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Buck Creek 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. Fort Ben Branch is one branch of Indianapolis Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 963,251 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 Lawrence Township
Does Lawrence Township have a public library?
Yes: Fort Ben Branch, 9330 East 56th Street, is a branch of Indianapolis Public Library, which serves 963,251 people. The branch is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Indianapolis 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 Lawrence Township’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lawrence Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Lawrence Township is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #417 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 Lawrence 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.