Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMadison Township’s library runs 148 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Linden Carnegie Public Library serves 1,192 people in and around Madison Township. Last year it lent 9,580 print books and media and logged 3,200 visits.
What stands out about Linden Carnegie Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Madison Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Madison Township is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. Madison Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Madison Township
7.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.0%
9.0% of Madison 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 Madison Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Linden Carnegie Public Library serves 1,192 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Linden Carnegie Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
9,580 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Linden Carnegie Public Library, 102 South Main Street, Linden.
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 Linden Carnegie Public Library branch.
New in Madison 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 $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madison Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $136K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $160K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $136K 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 400 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Township | Linden Carnegie Public Library fine-free | — | 30 | B+ |
| Union Township | Crawfordsville District Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | B |
| Coal Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Sugar Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lauramie 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Linden Carnegie Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Linden Carnegie Public Library serves 1,192 people in and around Madison Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Madison 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 Madison Township
Does Madison Township have a public library?
Yes. Linden Carnegie Public Library, 102 South Main Street, serves 1,192 people in and around Madison Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Linden Carnegie 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 Madison Township’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 8.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Madison Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Madison Township is ahead of 73% 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 Madison 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.