Photo: Nyttend · Public domainRushville’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Rushville Public Library serves 13,890 people in and around Rushville. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
Rushville’s library, in brief
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 ↓
Rushville Public Library serves more than Rushville
The library’s service area covers 13,890 people in and around Rushville, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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.
What’s behind Rushville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rushville is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #7 of 571 in Indiana. Rushville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Rushville near the top nationally; Rushville’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Rushville
9.8 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.8%
12.8% of Rushville’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’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rushville Public Library serves 13,890 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
9,660 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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, 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
Rushville Public Library, 130 West Third Street, Rushville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rushville? 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 $1.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rushville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $343K.
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.
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
Does Rushville have a public library?
Yes. Rushville Public Library, 130 West Third Street, serves 13,890 people in and around Rushville (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Rushville’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’s civic life grade?
A+ Rushville is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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.
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.