Photo: Photo by Andrew VanAtta. · Public domainFindlay’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library serves 66,478 people in and around Findlay. Last year it lent 864K books, movies and e-books and logged 210K visits.
What Findlay’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
66% of the budget comes from the state, and 20% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 44% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Findlay branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 23% 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; Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library serves 66,478 people in and around Findlay, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Findlay’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Findlay is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #391 of 914 in Ohio. Findlay is graded on two of the three inputs. Findlay’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
233 community nonprofits are registered in Findlay
5.8 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 (45 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Findlay’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 Findlay’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
864K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
197,541 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library serves 66,478 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 133 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 9 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
Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library, 206 Broadway, Findlay.
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 Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library branch.
New in Findlay? 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 $3.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Findlay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4M 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 24,557 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Findlay | Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | B+ |
| Liberty Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Marion Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Allen Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Eagle 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. Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library serves 66,478 people in and around Findlay, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Findlay.
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 Findlay
Does Findlay have a public library?
Yes. Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist Public Library, 206 Broadway, serves 66,478 people in and around Findlay (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Findlay Hancock Cnty Dist 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 Findlay’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 13.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Findlay’s civic life grade?
B+ Findlay is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #391 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 Findlay.
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.