Photo: User:OHWiki · CC BY-SA 2.5Ashland’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Ashland Public Library serves 25,315 people in and around Ashland. Last year it lent 561K books, movies and e-books and logged 284K visits.
What Ashland’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Ashland Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 19 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
67% of the budget comes from the state, and 22% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 14% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Ashland branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Ashland Public Library serves 25,315 people in and around Ashland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ashland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ashland is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #45 of 914 in Ohio. Ashland is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Ashland’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
175 community nonprofits are registered in Ashland
9.3 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 (42 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Ashland’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 Ashland’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 138 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ashland Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Ashland Public Library serves 25,315 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
561K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
80,140 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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.
Find it
Ashland Public Library, 224 Claremont Ave., Ashland.
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 Ashland Public Library branch.
New in Ashland? 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 $4.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 12,597 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland | Ashland Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | A |
| Montgomery Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Milton Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
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. Ashland Public Library serves 25,315 people in and around Ashland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ashland.
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 Ashland
Does Ashland have a public library?
Yes. Ashland Public Library, 224 Claremont Ave., serves 25,315 people in and around Ashland (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ashland 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 Ashland’s library?
It logged 11.2 visits and lent 22.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ashland’s civic life grade?
A Ashland is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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 Ashland.
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.