Riverside Chapel · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainDefiance’s library lends 7.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Defiance Public Library serves 38,286 people in and around Defiance. Last year it lent 374K books, movies and e-books and logged 86K visits.
The short version on Defiance’s library
Ohio pays a big share
65% of the budget comes from the state, and 25% 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 68% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Defiance Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. Today’s library there has 19,290 square feet. The building ↓
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; Defiance Public Library serves 38,286 people in and around Defiance, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Defiance’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Defiance is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #24 of 914 in Ohio. Defiance 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 →
130 community nonprofits are registered in Defiance
7.5 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 (48 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.0%
12.0% of Defiance’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 Defiance’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Defiance Public Library serves 38,286 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 62 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Defiance Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
374K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
82,908 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1985
Defiance Public Library, 320 Fort St., Defiance.
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 Defiance Public Library branch.
New in Defiance? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Defiance Public Library
Defiance Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 31, 1985. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Tudor Gothic.
The Defiance Public Library is a historic Carnegie library located in Defiance, Ohio. It was built in 1904 with funds from Andrew Carnegie and was designed by architects Wing & Mahurin. The Tudor Revival-style building includes stained glass, a red sandstone façade, and picture windows overlooking the junction the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers and of the Defiance Fort Grounds.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Defiance cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 14,347 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Defiance Public Library serves 38,286 people in and around Defiance, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Defiance.
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 Defiance
Does Defiance have a public library?
Yes. Defiance Public Library, 320 Fort St., serves 38,286 people in and around Defiance (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Defiance 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 Defiance’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Defiance’s civic life grade?
A+ Defiance is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Defiance.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.