Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Granville’s library logs 6.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Pember Library & Museum serves Granville’s 2,404 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
Granville’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
76% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 23%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 102 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 49 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Granville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Granville is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Granville
5.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Granville’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 Granville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pember Library & Museum serves 2,404 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
3,012 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
102 programs a year
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Granville last year.
Find it
Pember Library & Museum, 33 West Main Street, Granville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Granville? 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 $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Granville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $163K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $257K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $163K 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 1,756 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Pember Library & Museum counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Granville
Does Granville have a public library?
Yes. Pember Library & Museum, 33 West Main Street, serves Granville’s 2,404 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pember Library & Museum 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 Granville’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Granville’s civic life grade?
A Granville is ahead of 86% 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 Granville.
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.