Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBettsville’s library lends 6.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bettsville Public Library serves 2,049 people in and around Bettsville. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,380 visits.
What Bettsville’s library is like
More library cards than residents
4,781 cards for 2,049 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
76% of the budget comes from the state, and 5% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 74% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 82%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bettsville Public Library offered 9 programs last year, 4.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Bettsville Public Library serves 2,049 people in and around Bettsville, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Bettsville’s civic life grade
Bettsville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bettsville Public Library serves 2,049 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bettsville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9 programs a year
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
Bettsville Public Library, 233 State St., Bettsville.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Bettsville Public Library branch.
New in Bettsville? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bettsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $144K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $217K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $144K 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 4,781 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bettsville Public Library serves 2,049 people in and around Bettsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bettsville.
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 Bettsville
Does Bettsville have a public library?
Yes. Bettsville Public Library, 233 State St., serves 2,049 people in and around Bettsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bettsville Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bettsville’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bettsville’s civic life grade?
Bettsville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Bettsville.
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.