Photo: Djembayz · CC BY-SA 4.0Burton’s library lends 25 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Burton Public Library serves 9,167 people in and around Burton. Last year it lent 280K books, movies and e-books and logged 66K visits.
The short version on Burton’s library
Ohio pays a big share
55% of the budget comes from the state, and 38% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Burton Public Library logs 7.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 25 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 43% 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 5.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 17% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 470 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.3 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Burton Public Library serves 9,167 people in and around Burton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Burton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Burton is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. Burton is graded on two of the three inputs. Burton’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Burton
4.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.5%
7.5% of Burton’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 Burton’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Burton Public Library serves 9,167 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 100 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Burton Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
280K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
48,365 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Burton Public Library, 14588 W. Park St., Burton.
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 Burton Public Library branch.
New in Burton? 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 $4.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Burton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 3,507 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Burton Public Library serves 9,167 people in and around Burton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Burton.
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 Burton
Does Burton have a public library?
Yes. Burton Public Library, 14588 W. Park St., serves 9,167 people in and around Burton (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Burton 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 Burton’s library?
It logged 7.2 visits and lent 30.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Burton’s civic life grade?
B Burton is ahead of 59% 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 Burton.
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.