Photo: Roseohioresident · Public domainCarrollton’s library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Carroll County District Library serves 21,721 people in and around Carrollton. Last year it lent 191K books, movies and e-books and logged 140K visits.
Carrollton’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
96% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 860 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Carroll County District Library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Carroll County District Library serves 21,721 people in and around Carrollton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Carrollton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Carrollton is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #389 of 914 in Ohio. Carrollton is graded on two of the three inputs. Carrollton’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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Carrollton
5.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Carrollton’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 Carrollton’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carroll County District Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carroll County District Library serves 21,721 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
191K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,463 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 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
Carroll County District Library, 70 Second St., Carrollton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Carroll County District Library branch.
New in Carrollton? 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 $3.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carrollton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $824K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $824K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 7,264 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Carroll County District Library serves 21,721 people in and around Carrollton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Carrollton.
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 Carrollton
Does Carrollton have a public library?
Yes. Carroll County District Library, 70 Second St., serves 21,721 people in and around Carrollton (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carroll County District Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Carrollton’s library?
It logged 6.5 visits and lent 8.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Carrollton’s civic life grade?
B+ Carrollton 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 Carrollton.
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.