Photo: Nyttend · Public domainDelta’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Delta Public Library serves 8,095 people in and around Delta. Last year it lent 88K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Delta’s library
Ohio pays a big share
46% of the budget comes from the state, and 32% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 54%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
7,090 cards for 8,095 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 293 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 64% 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; Delta Public Library serves 8,095 people in and around Delta, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Delta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Delta is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #125 of 914 in Ohio. Delta 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Delta
4.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.2%
13.2% of Delta’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 Delta’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
88K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,173 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Delta Public Library serves 8,095 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Delta Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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.
Find it
Delta Public Library, 402 Main St., Delta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Delta Public Library branch.
New in Delta? 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 $3.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Delta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $425K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $425K 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 7,090 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta | Delta Public Library | — | 50 | A |
| Fulton Township | Swanton Public Library fine-free | — | 47 | A− |
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. Delta Public Library serves 8,095 people in and around Delta, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Delta.
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 Delta
Does Delta have a public library?
Yes. Delta Public Library, 402 Main St., serves 8,095 people in and around Delta (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Delta 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 Delta’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 10.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Delta’s civic life grade?
A Delta is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #125 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 Delta.
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.