Photo: Nyttend · Public domainForest’s library lends 7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Forest-Jackson Public Library serves 5,606 people in and around Forest. Last year it lent 45K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
The short version on Forest’s library
Ohio pays a big share
59% of the budget comes from the state, and 23% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 256 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Forest-Jackson Public Library serves 5,606 people in and around Forest, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Forest’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Forest is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns. Forest is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Forest’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Forest
3.1 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.6%
12.6% of Forest’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 Forest’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Forest-Jackson Public Library serves 5,606 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Forest-Jackson Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
45K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,270 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Forest-Jackson Public Library, 102 W. Lima St., Forest.
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 Forest-Jackson Public Library branch.
New in Forest? 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 $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Forest cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $275K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $693K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $275K 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 1,114 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Forest-Jackson Public Library serves 5,606 people in and around Forest, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Forest.
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 Forest
Does Forest have a public library?
Yes. Forest-Jackson Public Library, 102 W. Lima St., serves 5,606 people in and around Forest (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Forest-Jackson 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 Forest’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 7.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Forest’s civic life grade?
B+ Forest is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Forest.
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.