Vigo Township’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library serves 4,520 people in and around Vigo Township from 2 locations. Last year it lent 8,463 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,287 visits.
What Vigo Township’s library is like
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans. Print still makes up 46%. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
4,055 cards for 4,520 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. 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; Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library serves 4,520 people in and around Vigo Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Vigo Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Vigo Township is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #239 of 571 in Indiana. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 Vigo Township
4.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
16.2%
16.2% of Vigo 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 Vigo Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library serves 4,520 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
54% of borrowing is digital
8,463 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,602 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.
2 places to borrow in Vigo Township
Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library, 201 West 2nd Street, Bicknell.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library branch.
New in Vigo Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library branches in Vigo Township
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vigo Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $222K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $144K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $222K 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 4,055 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Township | Washington Carnegie Public Library | 4.2 | 45 | B |
| Vigo Township | Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library | — | 52 | B |
| Steele Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Elmore Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Widner Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Stafford Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Steen Township | 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. Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library serves 4,520 people in and around Vigo Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Vigo 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 Vigo Township
Does Vigo Township have a public library?
Yes. Bicknell-Vigo Township Public Library, 201 West 2nd Street, serves 4,520 people in and around Vigo Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bicknell-Vigo Township 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 Vigo Township’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Vigo Township’s civic life grade?
B Vigo Township is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #239 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 Vigo 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.