Princeton Township’s library lends 8.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Wolcott Community Public Library serves 2,134 people in and around Princeton Township. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What Princeton Township’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 78% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 118 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Wolcott Community Public Library serves 2,134 people in and around Princeton 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 Princeton Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Princeton Township is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. Princeton Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Princeton Township
6.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
15.2%
15.2% of Princeton 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 Princeton Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Wolcott Community Public Library serves 2,134 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wolcott Community Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,316 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Wolcott Community Public Library, 101 East North Street, Wolcott.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wolcott Community Public Library branch.
New in Princeton 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 $2.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Princeton Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $162K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $342K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $162K 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 624 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton Township | Wolcott Community Public Library | — | 32 | A+ |
| Monon Township | Monon Town & Township Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | B+ |
| Carpenter Township | Remington-Carpenter Township Public Library fine-free | — | 36 | A− |
| Honey Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Milroy Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Point 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.
- System-wide. Wolcott Community Public Library serves 2,134 people in and around Princeton Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Princeton 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 Princeton Township
Does Princeton Township have a public library?
Yes. Wolcott Community Public Library, 101 East North Street, serves 2,134 people in and around Princeton Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wolcott Community 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 Princeton Township’s library?
It logged 6.7 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Princeton Township’s civic life grade?
A+ Princeton Township is ahead of 98% 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 Princeton 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.