Photo: Evking22 · CC BY-SA 4.0Union Township’s library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Crawfordsville District Public Library serves 25,087 people in and around Union Township from 2 locations. Last year it lent 150K books, movies and e-books and logged 100K visits.
What stands out about Crawfordsville District Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Union Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Union Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #264 of 571 in Indiana. Union Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
113 community nonprofits are registered in Union Township
4.4 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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Union 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 Union Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Crawfordsville District Public Library serves 25,087 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Crawfordsville District Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
150K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
49,164 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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.
2 places to borrow in Union Township
Crawfordsville District Public Library, 205 South Washington Street, Crawforsdsville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Crawfordsville District Public Library branch.
New in Union Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Crawfordsville District Public Library branches in Union Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Union Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 5,782 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | Crawfordsville District Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | B |
| Franklin Township | Darlington Public Library fine-free | — | 31 | B− |
| Madison Township | Linden Carnegie Public Library fine-free | — | 30 | B+ |
| Brown Township | Waveland-Brown Township Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | B+ |
| Ripley Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Coal Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Scott Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Wayne Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Walnut Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Linnsburg | None 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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Crawfordsville District Public Library serves 25,087 people in and around Union Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Union 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 Union Township
Does Union Township have a public library?
Yes. Crawfordsville District Public Library, 205 South Washington Street, serves 25,087 people in and around Union Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Crawfordsville District 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 Union Township’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Union Township’s civic life grade?
B Union Township is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #264 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 Union 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.