Marion’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Marion Area District Library serves 3,876 people in and around Marion. Last year it lent 6,377 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,500 visits.
What Marion’s library is like
Marion Area District Library is used less than most libraries its size
Marion Area District Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Marion Area District Library spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Marion Area District Library serves 3,876 people in and around Marion, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Marion’s civic life grade
Marion 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Marion Area District Library serves 3,876 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marion Area District Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,377 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,468 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
74 programs a year
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
Marion District Library, 120 East Main Street, Marion.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Marion Area District Library branch.
New in Marion? 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 $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $57K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $111K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57K 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 2,450 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Marion Area District Library serves 3,876 people in and around Marion, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Marion.
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 Marion
Does Marion have a public library?
Yes. Marion Area District Library, 120 East Main Street, serves 3,876 people in and around Marion (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marion Area District 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 Marion’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Marion’s civic life grade?
Marion 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 Marion.
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.