Photo: Valerie Everett · CC BY-SA 2.0Walton’s library runs 178 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Walton & Tipton Township Public Library serves 2,304 people in and around Walton. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
Walton’s library, in brief
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 410 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 172 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 82% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Walton & Tipton Township Public Library serves 2,304 people in and around Walton, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Walton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Walton is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. Walton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Walton’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Walton
7.1 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.3%
11.3% of Walton’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 Walton’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Walton & Tipton Township Public Library serves 2,304 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Walton & Tipton Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,572 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Walton & Tipton Township Public Library, 110 North Main Street, Walton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Walton & Tipton Township Public Library branch.
New in Walton? 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 $2.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Walton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $188K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $465K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $188K 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 1,043 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Walton & Tipton Township Public Library serves 2,304 people in and around Walton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Walton.
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 Walton
Does Walton have a public library?
Yes. Walton & Tipton Township Public Library, 110 North Main Street, serves 2,304 people in and around Walton (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Walton & Tipton 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 Walton’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Walton’s civic life grade?
A+ Walton is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Walton.
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.