Photo: Nyttend · Public domainColdwater’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Coldwater Public Library serves 6,927 people in and around Coldwater. Last year it lent 95K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
The short version on Coldwater’s library
More library cards than residents
12,874 cards for 6,927 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
72% of the budget comes from the state, and 21% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 70% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Coldwater Public Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Coldwater Public Library serves 6,927 people in and around Coldwater, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Coldwater’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Coldwater is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #83 of 914 in Ohio. Coldwater is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Coldwater’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Coldwater
7.6 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.0%
9.0% of Coldwater’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 Coldwater’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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Coldwater Public Library serves 6,927 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Coldwater Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
95K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
24,546 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Coldwater Public Library, 305 W. Main St., Coldwater.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Coldwater Public Library branch.
New in Coldwater? 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 $3.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coldwater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $376K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $376K 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 12,874 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Coldwater Public Library serves 6,927 people in and around Coldwater, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Coldwater.
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 Coldwater
Does Coldwater have a public library?
Yes. Coldwater Public Library, 305 W. Main St., serves 6,927 people in and around Coldwater (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coldwater 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 Coldwater’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 13.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Coldwater’s civic life grade?
A Coldwater is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #83 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 Coldwater.
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.