Big Four Depot · Photo: Rwcwalter at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.5Galion’s library lends 8.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Galion Public Library Association serves Galion’s 10,464 residents. Last year it lent 113K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
What Galion’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
88% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
17,000 people came to the library’s 392 programs last year: 1.6 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Galion’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Galion is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #320 of 914 in Ohio. Galion’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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Galion
6.5 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 (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.
6.5%
6.5% of Galion’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 Galion’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Galion last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Galion Public Library Association serves 10,464 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
113K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 70K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
24,877 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Galion Public Library Association, 123 N. Market St., Galion.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Galion? 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 $3.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Galion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $619K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $619K 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 4,834 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galion | Galion Public Library Association fine-free | 10.8 | 56 | B+ |
| Crestline | Crestline Public Library | — | 59 | B+ |
| Polk Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Jackson Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| North Bloomfield Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Galion Public Library Association counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Galion
Does Galion have a public library?
Yes. Galion Public Library Association, 123 N. Market St., serves Galion’s 10,464 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Galion Public Library Association 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 Galion’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 10.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Galion’s civic life grade?
B+ Galion is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #320 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 Galion.
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.