Mitchell Opera House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMitchell’s library runs 10 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Mitchell Community Public Library serves 11,178 people in and around Mitchell. Last year it lent 54K books, movies and e-books and logged 34K visits.
What’s behind Mitchell’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mitchell is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #347 of 571 in Indiana. Mitchell is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Mitchell’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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Mitchell
3.6 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Mitchell’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 Mitchell’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mitchell Community Public Library serves 11,178 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mitchell Community Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
15,862 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Mitchell Community Public Library, 804 Main Street, Mitchell.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mitchell Community Public Library branch.
New in Mitchell? 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 $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mitchell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $534K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $846K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $534K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 2,608 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mitchell Community Public Library serves 11,178 people in and around Mitchell, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mitchell.
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 Mitchell
Does Mitchell have a public library?
Yes. Mitchell Community Public Library, 804 Main Street, serves 11,178 people in and around Mitchell (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mitchell Community Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mitchell’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mitchell’s civic life grade?
B− Mitchell is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #347 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 Mitchell.
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.