Photo: Erik Drost · CC BY 4.0Cleveland’s library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Cleveland Public Library serves 374,557 people in and around Cleveland from 28 locations. Last year it lent 5.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.5M visits.
Cleveland’s library, in brief
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 48%. What people borrow ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Cleveland Public Library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 7.5 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
37% of the budget comes from the state, and 54% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
Cleveland Public Library spends $174 per resident a year, about five times the typical $36 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
28 branches in Cleveland
Cleveland has 28 branches of the Cleveland Public Library, which serves 374,557 people in and around Cleveland. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Cleveland Public Library serves 374,557 people in and around Cleveland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Cleveland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cleveland is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #594 of 914 in Ohio. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #108. Cleveland’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 →
1,828 community nonprofits are registered in Cleveland
5.0 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 (623 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 69 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Cleveland’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 Cleveland’s residents live; 2022.
52% of borrowing is digital
5.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,043,028 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Cleveland Public Library serves 374,557 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 90 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cleveland Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 73 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.
28 places to borrow in Cleveland
Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Ave., Cleveland.
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 Cleveland Public Library branch.
New in Cleveland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Cleveland Public Library branches in Cleveland
And 15 more in Cleveland.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cleveland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $65M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $93M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $65M 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 302,029 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | Cleveland Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | C+ |
| Brook Park | Brook Park Branch Library fine-free | — | 66 | D |
| Shaker Heights | Shaker Heights Public Library fine-free | — | 69 | B+ |
| East Cleveland | East Cleveland Public Library | — | 53 | C |
| Fairview Park | Fairview Park Branch Library fine-free | — | 67 | B− |
| Brooklyn | Brooklyn Branch Library fine-free | — | 66 | C− |
| Lakewood | Lakewood Public Library fine-free | — | 72 | A− |
| Cleveland Heights | Cleveland Heights-University Heights Pl fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
| Euclid | Euclid Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | C |
| Cuyahoga Heights | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bratenahl | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Cleveland Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Cleveland Public Library serves 374,557 people in and around Cleveland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cleveland.
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 Cleveland
Does Cleveland have a public library?
Yes. Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Ave., serves 374,557 people in and around Cleveland (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cleveland 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 Cleveland’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 15.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Cleveland’s civic life grade?
C+ Cleveland is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #594 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 Cleveland.
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.