Otterbein’s library lends 6.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Otterbein Public Library serves 1,766 people in and around Otterbein. Last year it lent 11K print books and media and logged 5,083 visits.
What stands out about Otterbein Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Otterbein’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Otterbein is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Otterbein
5.1 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.6%
10.6% of Otterbein’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 Otterbein’s residents live; 2022.
35 programs a year
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 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Otterbein Public Library serves 1,766 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Otterbein Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
11K 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
Otterbein Public Library, 23 East First Street, Otterbein.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Otterbein Public Library branch.
New in Otterbein? 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 $1.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Otterbein cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $111K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $156K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $111K 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 736 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Otterbein 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. Otterbein Public Library serves 1,766 people in and around Otterbein, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Otterbein.
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 Otterbein
Does Otterbein have a public library?
Yes. Otterbein Public Library, 23 East First Street, serves 1,766 people in and around Otterbein (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Otterbein 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 Otterbein’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 6.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Otterbein’s civic life grade?
B+ Otterbein 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 Otterbein.
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.