Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Rushville Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
John K. Gowdy House, RushvillePhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
Rushville Public Library

Rushville Township’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size

Rushville Public Library serves Rushville Township’s 13,890 residents. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.

130 West Third Street, Rushville 46173 · about 54 hours a week
A+Civic lifeAhead of 98% of U.S. towns · #14 of 571 in Indiana. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
32K
2.3 per resident
Visits a year
12K
0.8 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
109
about 2 a week · 1,331 attended
Cardholders
16%
2,175 cards
Open
54 hrs
a week
In brief

What Rushville Township’s library is like

Rushville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size

Rushville Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $25 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓

Few programs for a library this size

Rushville Public Library offered 109 programs last year, 7.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓

Few residents carry a card

Only 16% of the people Rushville Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% 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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Rushville Township’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rushville Township is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #14 of 571 in Indiana. Rushville 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.

A+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Rushville Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 98%
FewerMore
Indiana towns we grade (571)Ahead of 98%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $43K–$72K (7,038)Ahead of 97%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Rushville Township is small (7,672 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

59 community nonprofits are registered in Rushville Township

7.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture30.39 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation101.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans182.35 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services70.91 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education40.52 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health30.39 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.26 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other121.57 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

12.8%

12.8% of Rushville 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 Rushville Township’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 0.8 visits · typical 3.1Bottom 10%
Borrowing per resident 1.6 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 82%
Digital borrowing 0.7 e-items · typical 1.1Lower than 66%
Kids’ borrowing 0.8 kids’ items · typical 1.8Lower than 75%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.4Bottom 10%
Programs offered 7.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Lower than 89%
Cardholders 16% of residents · typical 40%Bottom 10%
Spending $25 per resident · typical $43Lower than 77%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Rushville Public Library serves 13,890 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

12K
visits
0.8 per resident
32K
loans, print + digital
2.3 per resident
109
programs & events
1,331 attended
2,175
library cards
16% of people served
Every open hour11items borrowed
Every week26people at a program
Every day2Wi-Fi sessions
5 staff (full-time equivalent)12 public computers24K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

32Kloans
Books & media (adults) 35%Kids’ books & media 35%E-books, audio & streaming 31%
How hard the shelves work
0.9×

Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.

From your couch

9,660 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 1 kids’ program a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Rushville Township →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–554
Ages 6–119
Teens9
Adults28
All ages9
Little ones
1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
6

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Rushville Township last year.

1,331
people at programs
109
programs
The building

Find it

Rushville Public Library, 130 West Third Street, Rushville.

54
hours open a week
5,200
square feet
24K
books & media
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Rushville Township? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.40 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rushville Township cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$25 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $343K.

Local taxes 74%State 13%Gifts & other 13%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $479K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $343K budget.

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 2,175 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Rushville TownshipRushville Public Library2.354A+
Walker TownshipNone of its own——— graded with its twin city
Anderson TownshipNone of its own——A
Union TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Jackson TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Noble TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Posey TownshipNone of its own——B
Orange TownshipNone 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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.

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 Rushville Township

Does Rushville Township have a public library?

Yes. Rushville Public Library, 130 West Third Street, serves Rushville Township’s 13,890 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.

How busy is Rushville Township’s library?

It logged 0.8 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Rushville Township’s civic life grade?

A+ Rushville Township is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Rushville Township.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.