Smith Township’s library logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Churubusco Public Library serves 5,234 people in and around Smith Township. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What stands out about Churubusco Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Smith Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Smith Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #306 of 571 in Indiana. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Smith Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Smith Township
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
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.
8.8%
8.8% of Smith 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 Smith Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Churubusco Public Library serves 5,234 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Churubusco Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,186 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Churubusco Public Library, 116 North Mulberry Street, Churubusco.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Churubusco Public Library branch.
New in Smith 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 $2.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Smith Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $133K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $327K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $133K 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 4,794 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith Township | Churubusco Public Library | — | 44 | B− |
| Churubusco | Churubusco Public Library | — | 44 | B− |
| Eel River Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Thorncreek Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Green Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Union Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Tri-Lakes | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Churubusco Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Churubusco Public Library serves 5,234 people in and around Smith Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Smith 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 Smith Township
Does Smith Township have a public library?
Yes. Churubusco Public Library, 116 North Mulberry Street, serves 5,234 people in and around Smith Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Churubusco 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 Smith Township’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Smith Township’s civic life grade?
B− Smith Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #306 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 Smith 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.