Sugar Creek Township’s library is a branch of Vigo County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 62% of systems its size
Sugar Creek Township’s library is the West Branch Library, a branch of Vigo County Public Library, which serves 106,153 people and lent 483K items last year.
The short version on Sugar Creek Township’s library
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans, more per resident than at 63% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 57%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
The Vigo County Public Library system spends $85 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Sugar Creek Township’s library is a branch of Vigo County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (106,153 people), not just the Sugar Creek Township branch.
What’s behind Sugar Creek Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sugar Creek Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #345 of 571 in Indiana. Sugar Creek Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Sugar Creek 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Sugar Creek Township
2.6 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.6%
9.6% of Sugar Creek 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 Sugar Creek Township’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sugar Creek Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9M 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 35,667 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Vigo County Public Library serves 106,153 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Vigo County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
43% of borrowing is digital
483K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
208,981 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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
West Branch Library, 125 North Church Street, West Terre Haute.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Vigo County Public Library branch.
New in Sugar Creek Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Creek Township | West Branch Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| Terre Haute | Vigo County Public Library fine-free | — | 70 | B+ |
| Harrison Township | Vigo County Public Library fine-free | — | 70 | B+ |
| Prairieton Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Fayette Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Honey Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Elbridge Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| St. Mary of the Woods | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wabash Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- System-wide. West Branch Library is one branch of Vigo County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 106,153 people it serves.
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 Sugar Creek Township
Does Sugar Creek Township have a public library?
Yes: West Branch Library, 125 North Church Street, is a branch of Vigo County Public Library, which serves 106,153 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Vigo County 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 Sugar Creek Township’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sugar Creek Township’s civic life grade?
B− Sugar Creek Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #345 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 Sugar Creek 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.