Photo: Emmmmh · CC BY-SA 4.0Muncie’s library lends 4.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Muncie-Center Township Public Library serves 67,292 people in and around Muncie from 4 locations. Last year it lent 450K books, movies and e-books and logged 182K visits.
What stands out about Muncie-Center Township Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Muncie’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Muncie is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #158 of 571 in Indiana. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
325 community nonprofits are registered in Muncie
5.0 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 (120 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.2%
12.2% of Muncie’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 Muncie’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Muncie-Center Township Public Library serves 67,292 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Muncie-Center Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
450K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
145,065 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 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.
4 places to borrow in Muncie
Muncie-Center Township Public Library, 2005 South High Street, Muncie.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Muncie-Center Township Public Library branch.
New in Muncie? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Muncie-Center Township Public Library branches in Muncie
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Muncie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.3M 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 14,706 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muncie | Muncie-Center Township Public Library | — | 49 | A− |
| Yorktown | Yorktown Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | B− |
| Center Township | Muncie-Center Township Public Library | — | 49 | B+ |
| Monroe Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Hamilton 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. Muncie-Center Township Public Library serves 67,292 people in and around Muncie, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Muncie.
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 Muncie
Does Muncie have a public library?
Yes. Muncie-Center Township Public Library, 2005 South High Street, serves 67,292 people in and around Muncie (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Muncie-Center Township 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 Muncie’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Muncie’s civic life grade?
A− Muncie is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #158 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 Muncie.
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.