Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Dover’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Dover Public Library serves 17,426 people in and around Dover from 2 locations. Last year it lent 297K books, movies and e-books and logged 118K visits.
Dover’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
61% of the budget comes from the state, and 27% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Dover Public Library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 45% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
21,000 people came to the system’s 821 programs last year: 1.2 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 18% 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; Dover Public Library serves 17,426 people in and around Dover, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dover’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dover is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #97 of 914 in Ohio. Dover 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 →
73 community nonprofits are registered in Dover
5.6 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 (13 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.
10.0%
10.0% of Dover’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 Dover’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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Dover Public Library serves 17,426 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 70 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dover Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
297K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
51,961 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Dover
Dover Public Library, 525 N. Walnut St., Dover.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dover Public Library branch.
New in Dover? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Dover Public Library branches in Dover
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dover cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 14,858 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover | Dover Public Library | — | 56 | A |
| New Philadelphia | Tuscarawas County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | A− |
| Dover Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Parral | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Dover Public Library serves 17,426 people in and around Dover, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dover.
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 Dover
Does Dover have a public library?
Yes. Dover Public Library, 525 N. Walnut St., serves 17,426 people in and around Dover (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dover 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 Dover’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 17.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Dover’s civic life grade?
A Dover is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #97 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 Dover.
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.