Photo: Greg · CC BY-SA 2.0East Cleveland’s library runs 44 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
East Cleveland Public Library serves 16,884 people in and around East Cleveland. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 63K visits.
What East Cleveland’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
57% of the budget comes from the state, and 30% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
East Cleveland Public Library spends $189 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; East Cleveland Public Library serves 16,884 people in and around East Cleveland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind East Cleveland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Cleveland is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #730 of 914 in Ohio. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($17K–$28K) it does better, ahead of 65%.
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 →
54 community nonprofits are registered in East Cleveland
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (15 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.
3.0%
3.0% of East Cleveland’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 East Cleveland’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Cleveland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $604K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.2M 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 7,146 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
East Cleveland Public Library serves 16,884 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole East Cleveland Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,317 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
East Cleveland Public Library, 14101 Euclid Ave., East Cleveland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every East Cleveland Public Library branch.
New in East Cleveland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Cleveland | East Cleveland Public Library | — | 53 | C |
| Cleveland | Cleveland Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | C+ |
| Cleveland Heights | Cleveland Heights-University Heights Pl fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. East Cleveland Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. East Cleveland Public Library serves 16,884 people in and around East Cleveland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just East Cleveland.
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 East Cleveland
Does East Cleveland have a public library?
Yes. East Cleveland Public Library, 14101 Euclid Ave., serves 16,884 people in and around East Cleveland (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Cleveland 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 East Cleveland’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is East Cleveland’s civic life grade?
C East Cleveland is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #730 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 East Cleveland.
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.