Duncan Falls’ library is a branch of Muskingum County Library System, which lends more per resident than 57% of systems its size
Duncan Falls’s library is the Duncan Falls/Philo Branch, a branch of Muskingum County Library System, which serves 86,410 people and lent 487K items last year.
What stands out about Duncan Falls/Philo Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Duncan Falls’ civic life grade
Duncan Falls isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Muskingum County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Duncan Falls
Duncan Falls is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
13.9%
13.9% of Duncan Falls’ 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 Duncan Falls’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Muskingum County Library System serves 86,410 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Muskingum County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
487K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
108,772 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 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
Duncan Falls/Philo Branch, 222 Main St., Duncan Falls.
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 Muskingum County Library System branch.
New in Duncan Falls? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Duncan Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.1M 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 40,350 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan Falls | Duncan Falls/Philo Branch fine-free | — | 42 | — unincorporated |
| Wayne Township | Duncan Falls/Philo Branch fine-free | — | 42 | A− |
| Harrison 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.
- System-wide. Duncan Falls/Philo Branch is one branch of Muskingum County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 86,410 people it serves.
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 Duncan Falls
Does Duncan Falls have a public library?
Yes: Duncan Falls/Philo Branch, 222 Main St., is a branch of Muskingum County Library System, which serves 86,410 people. The branch is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Muskingum County Library System 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 Duncan Falls’ library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Duncan Falls’ civic life grade?
Duncan Falls isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Muskingum County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Duncan Falls.
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.