Taylor Township’s library is a branch of Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 73% of systems its size
Taylor Township’s library is the South Branch Library, a branch of Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, which serves 77,304 people and lent 702K items last year.
Taylor Township’s library, in brief
Open about 65 hours a week
The Taylor Township branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
The Kokomo-Howard County Public Library system spends $88 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) 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; Taylor Township’s library is a branch of Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (77,304 people), not just the Taylor Township branch.
What’s behind Taylor Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Taylor Township is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #478 of 571 in Indiana. Taylor Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Taylor Township
2.8 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Taylor 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 Taylor Township’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
702K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
216,623 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Kokomo-Howard County Public Library serves 77,304 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kokomo-Howard County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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
South Branch Library, 1755 East Center Road, Kokomo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kokomo-Howard County Public Library branch.
New in Taylor 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Taylor Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.8M 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 33,130 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Township | South Branch Library fine-free | — | 65 | C |
| Center Township | Kokomo-Howard County Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| Liberty Township | Greentown & Eastern Howard School Public Library | — | 52 | C+ |
| Howard Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Harrison Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Liberty Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Union Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. South Branch Library is one branch of Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 77,304 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 Taylor Township
Does Taylor Township have a public library?
Yes: South Branch Library, 1755 East Center Road, is a branch of Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, which serves 77,304 people. The branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kokomo-Howard 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 Taylor Township’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Taylor Township’s civic life grade?
C Taylor Township is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #478 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 Taylor 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.