Liberty Courthouse Square Historic District · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainLiberty’s library runs 103 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Union County Public Library serves 7,087 people in and around Liberty. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and drew 19K people to its programs.
The short version on Liberty’s library
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Union County Public Library ran 732 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 103 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 19,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
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 53% 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; Union County Public Library serves 7,087 people in and around Liberty, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Liberty’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Liberty is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Liberty is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Liberty near the top nationally; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
The survey’s stand-in for Liberty’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out. What the library did report is strong: 732 programs, 103 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for its size.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Liberty
7.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
19.2%
19.2% of Liberty’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 Liberty’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Union County Public Library serves 7,087 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Union County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,239 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Union County Public Library, 2 East Seminary Street, Liberty.
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 Union County Public Library branch.
New in Liberty? 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 $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Liberty cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $571K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $707K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $571K 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 2,022 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Union County Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Union County Public Library serves 7,087 people in and around Liberty, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Liberty.
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 Liberty
Does Liberty have a public library?
Yes. Union County Public Library, 2 East Seminary Street, serves 7,087 people in and around Liberty (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Union 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 Liberty’s library?
It lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 732 programs that drew 19,443 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Liberty’s civic life grade?
A+ Liberty is among the top 1% 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 Liberty.
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.