Photo: Weslee3 · CC BY-SA 3.0Centerville’s library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Washington-Centerville Public Library serves 59,771 people in and around Centerville from 2 locations. Last year it lent 1.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 366K visits.
What Centerville’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Washington-Centerville Public Library logs 6.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 19 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
61,722 cards for 59,771 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 8.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Ohio pays a big share
30% of the budget comes from the state, and 53% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Washington-Centerville Public Library serves 59,771 people in and around Centerville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Centerville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Centerville is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #465 of 914 in Ohio. Centerville is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Centerville’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
80 community nonprofits are registered in Centerville
3.2 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.6%
9.6% of Centerville’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 Centerville’s residents live; 2022.
About 12 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 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Washington-Centerville Public Library serves 59,771 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 199 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Washington-Centerville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
501,745 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Centerville
Washington-Centerville Public Library, 111 W. Spring Valley Road, Centerville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Washington-Centerville Public Library branch.
New in Centerville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Washington-Centerville Public Library branches in Centerville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Centerville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $7.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $24M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.6M 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 61,722 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centerville | Washington-Centerville Public Library | — | 62 | B |
| Washington Township | Washington-Centerville Public Library | — | 62 | B+ |
| Kettering | Wilmington-Stroop Branch fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Bellbrook | Winters Branch Library | — | 56 | A |
| Sugarcreek Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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.
- System-wide. Washington-Centerville Public Library serves 59,771 people in and around Centerville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Centerville.
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 Centerville
Does Centerville have a public library?
Yes. Washington-Centerville Public Library, 111 W. Spring Valley Road, serves 59,771 people in and around Centerville (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Washington-Centerville Public 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 Centerville’s library?
It logged 6.1 visits and lent 27.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Centerville’s civic life grade?
B Centerville is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #465 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 Centerville.
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.