Photo: Nyttend · Public domainDunkirk’s library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Hardin Northern Public Library serves 2,729 people in and around Dunkirk. Last year it lent 9,336 books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
Dunkirk’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
73% of the budget comes from the state, and 24% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 60% 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; Hardin Northern Public Library serves 2,729 people in and around Dunkirk, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dunkirk’s civic life grade
Dunkirk isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hardin Northern Public Library serves 2,729 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hardin Northern Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
9,336 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,368 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
52 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Hardin Northern Public Library, 153 N. Main St., Dunkirk.
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 Hardin Northern Public Library branch.
New in Dunkirk? 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 $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dunkirk cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $134K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $160K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $134K 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 952 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hardin Northern Public Library serves 2,729 people in and around Dunkirk, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dunkirk.
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 Dunkirk
Does Dunkirk have a public library?
Yes. Hardin Northern Public Library, 153 N. Main St., serves 2,729 people in and around Dunkirk (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hardin Northern 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 Dunkirk’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Dunkirk’s civic life grade?
Dunkirk isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Dunkirk.
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.