Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPenn Township’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Penn Township Public Library serves 1,133 people in and around Penn Township. Last year it lent 2,750 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,325 visits.
Penn Township’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Penn Township Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
The Penn Township branch keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Penn Township Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Penn Township Public Library serves 1,133 people in and around Penn Township, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Penn Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Penn Township is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Penn Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Penn Township
6.0 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.8%
9.8% 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.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Penn Township Public Library serves 1,133 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Penn Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,750 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
23 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.
Find it
Penn Township Public Library, 195 North Union, Pennville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Penn Township 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.82 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: $54. Operating budget $27K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27K 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 213 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 | Penn Township Public Library fine-free | — | 22 | B |
| Harrison Township | Montpelier-Harrison Township Public Library | — | 40 | B+ |
| Knox Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Jackson Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Penn Township Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Penn Township Public Library serves 1,133 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. Penn Township Public Library, 195 North Union, serves 1,133 people in and around Penn Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Penn 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 Penn Township’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Penn Township’s civic life grade?
B Penn Township is ahead of 58% 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 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.