Photo: Blervis · CC BY 4.0Dayton’s library runs 28 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Dayton Metro Library serves 452,238 people in and around Dayton from 9 locations. Last year it lent 4.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 2M visits.
Dayton’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Dayton Metro Library ran 12,641 programs last year, about 243 a week. That’s 28 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 237,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Ohio pays a big share
43% of the budget comes from the state, and 49% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Dayton Metro Library logs 4.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 39% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
84% of the people it serves carry a library card
379,934 cards for 452,238 people, or 84%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
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; Dayton Metro Library serves 452,238 people in and around Dayton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dayton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dayton is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #356 of 914 in Ohio. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #45. Dayton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Dayton’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 →
697 community nonprofits are registered in Dayton
5.1 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 (269 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Dayton’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 Dayton’s residents live; 2022.
About 131 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 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Dayton Metro Library serves 452,238 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dayton Metro Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,886,751 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
9 places to borrow in Dayton
Dayton Metro Library, 215 E. Third St., Dayton.
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 Dayton Metro Library branch.
New in Dayton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Dayton Metro Library branches in Dayton
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dayton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $38M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $76M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38M 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 379,934 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dayton | Dayton Metro Library fine-free | — | 61 | B+ |
| Trotwood | Trotwood Branch Library fine-free | — | 59 | D |
| Huber Heights | Huber Heights Branch Library fine-free | — | 59 | C+ |
| Kettering | Wilmington-Stroop Branch fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Harrison Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Riverside | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Shiloh | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Fort McKinley | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Butler Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Moraine | 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.
- System-wide. Dayton Metro Library serves 452,238 people in and around Dayton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dayton.
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 Dayton
Does Dayton have a public library?
Yes. Dayton Metro Library, 215 E. Third St., serves 452,238 people in and around Dayton (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dayton Metro 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 Dayton’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 10.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Dayton’s civic life grade?
B+ Dayton is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #356 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 Dayton.
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.