Jones-Bowman House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainColumbiana’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Columbiana Public Library serves 8,061 people in and around Columbiana. Last year it lent 174K books, movies and e-books and logged 102K visits.
Columbiana’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
12,232 cards for 8,061 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
78% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Columbiana Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 17 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 23% of all loans. 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; Columbiana Public Library serves 8,061 people in and around Columbiana, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Columbiana’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbiana is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #134 of 914 in Ohio. Library visits hold 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 →
68 community nonprofits are registered in Columbiana
9.9 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.3%
6.3% of Columbiana’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 Columbiana’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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.
Columbiana Public Library serves 8,061 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 54 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Columbiana Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
174K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
40,457 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Columbiana Public Library, 332 N. Middle St., Columbiana.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Columbiana Public Library branch.
New in Columbiana? 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 $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbiana cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 12,232 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unity Township | East Palestine Memorial Public Library | 11.1 | 59 | C+ |
| Columbiana | Columbiana Public Library | — | 62 | A |
| Fairfield Township | Columbiana Public Library | — | 62 | — graded with its twin city |
| Fairfield Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Beaver Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Columbiana Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Columbiana Public Library serves 8,061 people in and around Columbiana, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Columbiana.
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 Columbiana
Does Columbiana have a public library?
Yes. Columbiana Public Library, 332 N. Middle St., serves 8,061 people in and around Columbiana (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Columbiana 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 Columbiana’s library?
It logged 12.6 visits and lent 21.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Columbiana’s civic life grade?
A Columbiana is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #134 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 Columbiana.
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.