Photo: Nyttend · Public domainClay Township’s library is a branch of Harris-Elmore Public Library, which lends more per resident than 68% of systems its size
Clay Township’s library is the Genoa Branch Library, a branch of Harris-Elmore Public Library, which serves 11,400 people and lent 77K items last year.
Clay Township’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
57% of the budget comes from the state, and 28% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
18,000 people came to the system’s 516 programs last year: 1.6 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. 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; Clay Township’s library is a branch of Harris-Elmore Public Library, so they cover the whole system (11,400 people), not just the Clay Township branch.
What’s behind Clay Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Clay Township is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #477 of 914 in Ohio. Clay Township 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Clay Township
3.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Clay Township’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 Clay Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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.
Harris-Elmore Public Library serves 11,400 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Harris-Elmore Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
77K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,059 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Genoa Branch Library, 602 West St., Genoa.
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 Harris-Elmore Public Library branch.
New in Clay Township? 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 $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clay Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $806K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $806K 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 4,604 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay Township | Genoa Branch Library fine-free | — | 51 | B |
| Lake Township | Walbridge Branch Library fine-free | — | 54 | C |
| Harris Township | Harris-Elmore Public Library fine-free | — | 51 | A+ |
| Woodville Township | Woodville Branch Library fine-free | — | 39 | B− |
| Allen Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Millbury | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Benton Township | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
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. Genoa Branch Library is one branch of Harris-Elmore Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 11,400 people it serves.
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 Clay Township
Does Clay Township have a public library?
Yes: Genoa Branch Library, 602 West St., is a branch of Harris-Elmore Public Library, which serves 11,400 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harris-Elmore 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 Clay Township’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Clay Township’s civic life grade?
B Clay Township is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #477 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 Clay Township.
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.