Photo: Nyttend · Public domainElk Township’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library serves 12,800 people in and around Elk Township. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What Elk Township’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
80% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
56% of the 281 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 58 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library serves 12,800 people in and around Elk Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Elk Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Elk Township is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #91 of 914 in Ohio. Elk Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Elk Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Elk Township
6.5 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.4%
9.4% of Elk Township’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 Elk Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library serves 12,800 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,315 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library, 12o N. Market St., Mcarthur.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library branch.
New in Elk Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elk Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $554K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $384K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $554K 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 3,718 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Township | Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library fine-free | — | 47 | A |
| Madison Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Clinton Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Richland Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Swan Township | 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. Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library serves 12,800 people in and around Elk Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Elk Township.
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 Elk Township
Does Elk Township have a public library?
Yes. Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library, 12o N. Market St., serves 12,800 people in and around Elk Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Herbert Wescoat Memorial 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 Elk Township’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Elk Township’s civic life grade?
A Elk Township is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #91 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 Elk Township.
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.