Photo: Roseohioresident · CC BY-SA 3.0Canal Fulton’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Canal Fulton Public Library serves 13,076 people in and around Canal Fulton. Last year it lent 192K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
Canal Fulton’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Ohio pays a big share
52% of the budget comes from the state, and 38% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Canal Fulton Public Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Canal Fulton Public Library ran 720 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 55 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 18,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Canal Fulton Public Library spends $99 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; Canal Fulton Public Library serves 13,076 people in and around Canal Fulton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Canal Fulton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Canal Fulton is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #389 of 914 in Ohio. Canal Fulton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Canal Fulton
4.2 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.4%
8.4% of Canal Fulton’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 Canal Fulton’s residents live; 2022.
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.
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.
Canal Fulton Public Library serves 13,076 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 62 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Canal Fulton Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
192K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,088 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Canal Fulton Public Library, 154 Market St. NE, Canal Fulton.
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 Canal Fulton Public Library branch.
New in Canal Fulton? 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 $2.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canal Fulton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 7,888 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Canal Fulton Public Library serves 13,076 people in and around Canal Fulton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Canal Fulton.
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 Canal Fulton
Does Canal Fulton have a public library?
Yes. Canal Fulton Public Library, 154 Market St. NE, serves 13,076 people in and around Canal Fulton (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Canal Fulton 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 Canal Fulton’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 14.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Canal Fulton’s civic life grade?
B+ Canal Fulton is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #389 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 Canal Fulton.
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.