West Union Bridge · Photo: Jacob Hilt · CC BY-SA 4.0Reserve Township’s library lends 7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Montezuma Public Library serves 1,317 people in and around Reserve Township. Last year it lent 9,206 print books and media and logged 2,602 visits.
Reserve Township’s library, in brief
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 75% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 75%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Reserve Township branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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; Montezuma Public Library serves 1,317 people in and around Reserve 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 Reserve Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Reserve Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Reserve 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 Reserve Township
5.4 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.
7.9%
7.9% of Reserve 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 Reserve Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Montezuma Public Library serves 1,317 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Montezuma Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
9,206 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.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Montezuma Public Library, 270 Crawford Street, Montezuma.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Montezuma Public Library branch.
New in Reserve 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 $1.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Reserve Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $91K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $161K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $91K 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 208 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reserve Township | Montezuma Public Library | — | 20 | B− |
| Vermillion Township | Vermillion County Public Library fine-free | — | 45 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Adams Township | Parke County Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | A |
| Penn Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Helt Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Wabash Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Liberty 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. Montezuma 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. Montezuma Public Library serves 1,317 people in and around Reserve Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Reserve 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 Reserve Township
Does Reserve Township have a public library?
Yes. Montezuma Public Library, 270 Crawford Street, serves 1,317 people in and around Reserve Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Montezuma 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 Reserve Township’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 7.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Reserve Township’s civic life grade?
B− Reserve Township is ahead of 51% 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 Reserve 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.