Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Barberton’s library lends 9.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Barberton Public Library serves 24,789 people in and around Barberton from 2 locations. Last year it lent 329K books, movies and e-books and logged 106K visits.
Barberton’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
58% of the budget comes from the state, and 32% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 81 hours a week
The Barberton branch is open about 81 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Barberton Public Library lends 9.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Barberton Public Library spends $96 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; Barberton Public Library serves 24,789 people in and around Barberton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Barberton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Barberton is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #571 of 914 in Ohio. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
95 community nonprofits are registered in Barberton
3.8 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 (36 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Barberton’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 Barberton’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
329K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
96,439 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Barberton Public Library serves 24,789 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 60 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Barberton Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 7 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.
2 places to borrow in Barberton
Barberton Public Library, 602 W Park Ave, Barberton.
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 Barberton Public Library branch.
New in Barberton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Barberton Public Library branches in Barberton
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Barberton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 18,062 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barberton | Barberton Public Library fine-free | — | 81 | B− |
| Norton | Norton Branch Library fine-free | — | 53 | D |
| New Franklin | Portage Lakes Branch Library fine-free | — | 53 | B− |
| Akron | Akron-Summit Cnty Public Library fine-free | — | 59 | C |
| Coventry 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Barberton Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Barberton Public Library serves 24,789 people in and around Barberton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Barberton.
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 Barberton
Does Barberton have a public library?
Yes. Barberton Public Library, 602 W Park Ave, serves 24,789 people in and around Barberton (the survey’s count) and is open about 81 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Barberton 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 Barberton’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 13.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Barberton’s civic life grade?
B− Barberton is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #571 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 Barberton.
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.