Photo: Sixflashphoto · CC BY-SA 4.0Grandview Heights’ library lends 46 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Grandview Heights Public Library serves 8,703 people in and around Grandview Heights. Last year it lent 542K books, movies and e-books and logged 137K visits.
What Grandview Heights’s library is like
More library cards than residents
16,376 cards for 8,703 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Grandview Heights Public Library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 46 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 37% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 16 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Ohio pays a big share
38% of the budget comes from the state, and 48% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Grandview Heights Public Library serves 8,703 people in and around Grandview Heights, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Grandview Heights’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Grandview Heights is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #43 of 914 in Ohio. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Grandview Heights Public Library logged 15.8 visits per resident in FY2024, #58 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Grandview Heights
5.0 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.8%
10.8% of Grandview Heights’ 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 Grandview Heights’ residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Grandview Heights Public Library serves 8,703 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 157 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Grandview Heights Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
542K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
140,776 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Grandview Heights Public Library, 1685 W. First Ave., Grandview Hts..
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 Grandview Heights Public Library branch.
New in Grandview Heights? 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grandview Heights cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.7M 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 16,376 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grandview Heights | Grandview Heights Public Library fine-free | — | 63 | A |
| Marble Cliff | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 count everyone. Grandview Heights’ 137,280 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Grandview Heights Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Grandview Heights Public Library serves 8,703 people in and around Grandview Heights, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Grandview Heights.
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 Grandview Heights
Does Grandview Heights have a public library?
Yes. Grandview Heights Public Library, 1685 W. First Ave., serves 8,703 people in and around Grandview Heights (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grandview Heights 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 Grandview Heights’ library?
It logged 15.8 visits and lent 62.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Grandview Heights’ civic life grade?
A Grandview Heights is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #43 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 Grandview Heights.
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.