Photo: Brandon Bisel · CC BY-SA 4.0Akron’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library serves 381,648 people in and around Akron from 10 locations. Last year it lent 4.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.5M visits.
What Akron’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 8.8 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
46% of the budget comes from the state, and 46% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
228,000 people came to the system’s 7,818 programs last year: 0.6 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 42% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Ten branches in Akron
Akron has ten branches of the Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library, which serves 381,648 people in and around Akron. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library serves 381,648 people in and around Akron, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Akron’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Akron is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #726 of 914 in Ohio. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #172. Akron is graded on two of the three inputs. Akron’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$60K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
775 community nonprofits are registered in Akron
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (264 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Akron’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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.
About 67 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library serves 381,648 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 85 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,233,563 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
10 places to borrow in Akron
Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library, 60 S. High St., Akron.
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 Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library branch.
New in Akron? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library branches in Akron
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Akron cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $31M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $72M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $31M 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 281,482 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akron | Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library fine-free | — | 59 | C |
| Cuyahoga Falls | Cuyahoga Falls Library | — | 58 | B |
| Bath Township | Fairlawn-Bath Branch Library fine-free | — | 53 | A− |
| Barberton | Barberton Public Library fine-free | — | 81 | B− |
| Coventry Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Springfield Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Fairlawn | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Portage Lakes | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Copley Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Montrose-Ghent | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Sawyerwood | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library serves 381,648 people in and around Akron, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Akron.
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. Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library, 60 S. High St., serves 381,648 people in and around Akron (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Akron-Summit Cnty 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 Akron’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 12.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Akron’s civic life grade?
C Akron is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #726 of 914 in Ohio. 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.