Photo: Nyttend · Public domainGirard’s library runs 67 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Girard Free Library serves 10,679 people in and around Girard. Last year it lent 88K books, movies and e-books and logged 67K visits.
The short version on Girard’s library
Ohio pays a big share
73% of the budget comes from the state, and 18% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Girard Free Library ran 717 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 67 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Girard Free Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
Girard Free Library spends $140 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; Girard Free Library serves 10,679 people in and around Girard, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Girard’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Girard is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #255 of 914 in Ohio. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in Girard
4.7 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 (17 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.
7.8%
7.8% of Girard’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 Girard’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Girard Free Library serves 10,679 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Girard Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
88K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
25,531 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Girard Free Library, 105 E. Prospect St., Girard.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Girard Free Library branch.
New in Girard? 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 Girard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 6,882 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girard | Girard Free Library | — | 54 | A− |
| Liberty Township | Girard Free Library | — | 54 | D |
| Youngstown | Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| Weathersfield Township | Mckinley Memorial Library fine-free | — | 56 | C− |
| McKinley Heights | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| McDonald | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Vienna Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Girard Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Girard Free Library serves 10,679 people in and around Girard, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Girard.
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 Girard
Does Girard have a public library?
Yes. Girard Free Library, 105 E. Prospect St., serves 10,679 people in and around Girard (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Girard Free Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Girard’s library?
It logged 6.3 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Girard’s civic life grade?
A− Girard is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #255 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 Girard.
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.