Photo: Nyttend · Public domainArcanum’s library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Arcanum Public Library serves 6,050 people in and around Arcanum. Last year it lent 71K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.
What Arcanum’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
65% of the budget comes from the state, and 20% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
7,208 cards for 6,050 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Arcanum Public Library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. 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; Arcanum Public Library serves 6,050 people in and around Arcanum, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Arcanum’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Arcanum is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns. Arcanum is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Arcanum’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Arcanum
3.4 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.
10.1%
10.1% of Arcanum’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 Arcanum’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Arcanum Public Library serves 6,050 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Arcanum Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
71K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,730 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Arcanum Public Library, 101 North St., Arcanum.
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 Arcanum Public Library branch.
New in Arcanum? 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arcanum cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $424K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $424K 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 7,208 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Arcanum Public Library serves 6,050 people in and around Arcanum, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Arcanum.
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 Arcanum
Does Arcanum have a public library?
Yes. Arcanum Public Library, 101 North St., serves 6,050 people in and around Arcanum (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arcanum 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 Arcanum’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Arcanum’s civic life grade?
B+ Arcanum is ahead of 67% 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 Arcanum.
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.