Photo: Nyttend · Public domainRipley Township’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Henry Henley Public Library serves Ripley Township’s 2,156 residents. Last year it lent 5,133 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,563 visits.
The short version on Ripley Township’s library
Henry Henley Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Henry Henley Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Most of Ripley Township’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 65% of loans, more per resident than at 64% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 35%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Henry Henley Public Library serves 2,156 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Henry Henley Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Knightstown Public Library in Wayne Township, next door, is open about 36 hours a week. The building ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Henry Henley Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2016. Today’s library there has 2,320 square feet. The building ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Ripley Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ripley Township is ahead of 60% 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Ripley Township
6.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.9%
10.9% of Ripley 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 Ripley Township’s residents live; 2022.
65% of borrowing is digital
5,133 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,889 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
3,320 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Henry Henley Public Library serves 2,156 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. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ripley Township last year.
A National Register landmark since 2016
Henry Henley Public Library, 102 North Main Street, Carthage.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ripley Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Henry Henley Public Library
Henley, Henry, Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 27, 2016. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ripley Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $29K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $86K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29K 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 302 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Township | Knightstown Public Library | 2.9 | 36 | A+ |
| Ripley Township | Henry Henley Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 20 | B |
| Center Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Blue River Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Posey Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Jackson Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Henry Henley Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Ripley Township
Does Ripley Township have a public library?
Yes. Henry Henley Public Library, 102 North Main Street, serves Ripley Township’s 2,156 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Henry Henley 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 Ripley Township’s library?
It logged 0.7 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 Ripley Township’s civic life grade?
B Ripley Township is ahead of 60% 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 Ripley 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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.