Photo: Evking22 · CC BY-SA 4.0Penn Township’s library lends 6.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library serves 93,095 people in and around Penn Township from 2 locations. Last year it lent 950K books, movies and e-books and logged 200K visits.
Penn Township’s library, in brief
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the eight libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 82% of similar-size libraries. 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; Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library serves 93,095 people in and around Penn Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Penn Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Penn Township is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #544 of 571 in Indiana. Penn Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$82K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
158 community nonprofits are registered in Penn Township
2.3 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 (70 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Penn 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 Penn Township’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
950K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
362,873 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library serves 93,095 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 129 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 8 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.
2 places to borrow in Penn Township
Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library, 209 Lincoln Way East, Mishawaka.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library branch.
New in Penn Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library branches in Penn Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Penn Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.5M 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 26,550 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Township | Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library | — | 56 | D |
| Portage Township | St. Joseph County Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | B− |
| Mishawaka | Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library | — | 56 | C− |
| South Bend | St. Joseph County Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | B− |
| Harris Township | Harris Branch Library | — | 45 | C+ |
| Clay Township | Roger B Francis Branch fine-free | — | 56 | C |
| Cleveland Township | Cleveland Branch Library fine-free | — | 55 | D |
| Granger | Harris Branch Library | — | 45 | — unincorporated |
| Centre Township | Centre Township Branch fine-free | — | 56 | D |
| Baugo Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Madison Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library serves 93,095 people in and around Penn Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Penn 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 Penn Township
Does Penn Township have a public library?
Yes. Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library, 209 Lincoln Way East, serves 93,095 people in and around Penn Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mishawaka-Penn-Harris 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 Penn Township’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 10.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Penn Township’s civic life grade?
D Penn Township is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #544 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 Penn 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.