Kenyon College · Photo: .curt. · CC BY 2.0Gambier’s library is a branch of Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of, which lends more per resident than 59% of systems its size
Gambier’s library is the Gambier Branch, a branch of Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of, which serves 56,248 people and lent 392K items last year.
The short version on Gambier’s library
Ohio pays a big share
52% of the budget comes from the state, and 40% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
55,026 cards for 56,248 people, or 98%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
The Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of system logs 6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Gambier’s library is a branch of Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of, so they cover the whole system (56,248 people), not just the Gambier branch.
What’s behind Gambier’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gambier is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Gambier is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Gambier near the top nationally; Gambier’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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Gambier
10.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
13.8%
13.8% of Gambier’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 Gambier’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of system. The library’s own count.
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.
Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of serves 56,248 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
392K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
132,910 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Gambier Branch, 115 Meadow Lane, Gambier.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of branch.
New in Gambier? 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 $1.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gambier cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 55,026 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Gambier Branch is one branch of Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 56,248 people it serves.
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 Gambier
Does Gambier have a public library?
Yes: Gambier Branch, 115 Meadow Lane, is a branch of Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of, which serves 56,248 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mt Vernon & Knox County, Public Library of 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 Gambier’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Gambier’s civic life grade?
A+ Gambier is among the top 1% 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 Gambier.
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.