Photo: Quentin Melson · CC BY-SA 4.0Orleans’ library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Orleans Town & Township Public Library serves 4,859 people in and around Orleans. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,487 visits.
The short version on Orleans’s library
Orleans Town & Township Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Orleans Town & Township Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 114 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 32 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans. Print still makes up 57%, much of it kids’ books. 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; Orleans Town & Township Public Library serves 4,859 people in and around Orleans, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Orleans’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Orleans is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. Orleans is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Orleans’ 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Orleans
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
9.8%
9.8% of Orleans’ 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 Orleans’ residents live; 2022.
43% of borrowing is digital
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,217 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Orleans Town & Township Public Library serves 4,859 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Orleans Town & Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 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.
Find it
Orleans Town & Township Public Library, 174 North Maple Street, Orleans.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Orleans Town & Township Public Library branch.
New in Orleans? 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 $1.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orleans cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $138K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $235K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $138K 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 851 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Orleans Town & Township Public Library serves 4,859 people in and around Orleans, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Orleans.
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 Orleans
Does Orleans have a public library?
Yes. Orleans Town & Township Public Library, 174 North Maple Street, serves 4,859 people in and around Orleans (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orleans Town & 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 Orleans’ library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Orleans’ civic life grade?
B Orleans is ahead of 56% 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 Orleans.
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.