West Creek Township’s library is a branch of Lowell Public Library, which lends more per resident than 69% of systems its size
West Creek Township’s library is the Schneider Branch Library, a branch of Lowell Public Library, which serves 22,120 people and lent 165K items last year.
The short version on West Creek Township’s library
Open only about 16 hours a week
The West Creek Township branch keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 79% 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; West Creek Township’s library is a branch of Lowell Public Library, so they cover the whole system (22,120 people), not just the West Creek Township branch.
What’s behind West Creek Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, West Creek Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #310 of 571 in Indiana. West Creek Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; West 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in West Creek Township
3.2 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of West 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 West Creek Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lowell Public Library serves 22,120 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lowell Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
165K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
36,933 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Schneider Branch Library, 24002 Parrish Avenue, Schneider.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lowell Public Library branch.
New in West Creek 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 $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Creek Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 9,070 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Creek Township | Schneider Branch Library | — | 16 | B− |
| Cedar Creek Township | Lowell Public Library | — | 60 | B |
| Lake Township | Newton County Public Library | — | 47 | A− |
| Hanover Township | Cedar Lake Branch | — | 48 | C |
| Cedar Lake | Cedar Lake Branch | — | 48 | C+ |
| Sumava Resorts | 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. Schneider Branch Library is one branch of Lowell Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 22,120 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 West Creek Township
Does West Creek Township have a public library?
Yes: Schneider Branch Library, 24002 Parrish Avenue, is a branch of Lowell Public Library, which serves 22,120 people. The branch is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lowell 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 West Creek Township’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is West Creek Township’s civic life grade?
B− West Creek Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #310 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 West 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.