Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Akron’s library lends 6.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Newstead Public Library serves 8,689 people in and around Akron. Last year it lent 55K print books and media and logged 34K visits.
What Akron’s library is like
Busy on a lean budget
Newstead Public Library spends $26 per resident, less than 76% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still borrowed from more than 70% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Newstead Public Library serves more than Akron
The library’s service area covers 8,689 people in and around Akron, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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.
What’s behind Akron’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Akron is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #158 of 751 in New York. Akron is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Akron
4.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Akron’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Akron’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Newstead Public Library serves 8,689 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
55K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Newstead Public Library, 33 Main Street, Akron.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Akron? 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 $3.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Akron cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $226K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $895K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $226K 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 4,883 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Akron
Does Akron have a public library?
Yes. Newstead Public Library, 33 Main Street, serves 8,689 people in and around Akron (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newstead Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Akron’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 6.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Akron’s civic life grade?
A− Akron is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #158 of 751 in New York. 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 Akron.
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.