Photo: Nyttend · Public domainSmiths Grove’s library is a branch of Warren County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 67% of systems its size
Smiths Grove’s library is the Smiths Grove Branch, a branch of Warren County Public Library, which serves 142,229 people and lent 977K items last year.
What stands out about Smiths Grove Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Smiths Grove’s civic life grade
Smiths Grove isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 24 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Warren County Public Library serves 142,229 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 100 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Warren County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
977K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
309,057 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Smiths Grove Branch, 115 Second Street, Smiths Grove.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Warren County Public Library branch.
New in Smiths Grove? 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 $3.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Smiths Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.1M 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 41,156 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Smiths Grove Branch is one branch of Warren County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 142,229 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 Smiths Grove
Does Smiths Grove have a public library?
Yes: Smiths Grove Branch, 115 Second Street, is a branch of Warren County Public Library, which serves 142,229 people. The branch is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Warren 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 Smiths Grove’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Smiths Grove’s civic life grade?
Smiths Grove isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Smiths Grove.
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.