Haven Hubbard Home · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainOlive Township’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library serves 4,364 people in and around Olive Township. Last year it lent 98K books, movies and e-books and logged 51K visits.
What Olive Township’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
9,296 people came to the system’s 357 programs last year: 2.1 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library spends $213 per resident a year, about five times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library serves 4,364 people in and around Olive Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Olive Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Olive Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #40 of 571 in Indiana. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Olive Township
5.4 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.0%
11.0% of Olive 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 Olive Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library serves 4,364 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
98K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,391 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library, 408 South Bray Street, New Carlisle.
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 New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library branch.
New in Olive 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 $2.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Olive Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $931K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $931K 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 2,239 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olive Township | New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library fine-free | — | 51 | A |
| Lincoln Township | Fish Lake Branch Library fine-free | — | 28 | A− |
| Galien Township | Galien Township Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | A− |
| Greene Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Warren Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Wills Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Hudson Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Bertrand Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library serves 4,364 people in and around Olive Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Olive 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 Olive Township
Does Olive Township have a public library?
Yes. New Carlisle & Olive Township Public Library, 408 South Bray Street, serves 4,364 people in and around Olive Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Carlisle & Olive Township 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 Olive Township’s library?
It logged 11.8 visits and lent 22.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Olive Township’s civic life grade?
A Olive Township is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 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 Olive 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.