Photo: Chamberednautilus · CC BY-SA 4.0Granville’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Granville Public Library serves 14,524 people in and around Granville. Last year it lent 260K books, movies and e-books and logged 101K visits.
Granville’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
58% of the budget comes from the state, and 30% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Granville Public Library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The Granville branch is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Granville Public Library serves 14,524 people in and around Granville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Granville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Granville is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #25 of 914 in Ohio. Granville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Granville
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
15.0%
15.0% of Granville’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 Granville’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
Granville Public Library serves 14,524 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Granville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
260K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
68,865 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Granville Public Library, 217 E. Broadway, Granville.
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 Granville Public Library branch.
New in Granville? 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 $2.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Granville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 8,208 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granville | Granville Public Library fine-free | — | 66 | A+ |
| Granville Township | Granville Public Library fine-free | — | 66 | A+ |
| Newark | Licking County Library fine-free | — | 48 | B− |
| Union Township | Buckeye Lake Branch fine-free | — | 40 | A− |
| Granville South | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Newark 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.
- System-wide. Granville Public Library serves 14,524 people in and around Granville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Granville.
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 Granville
Does Granville have a public library?
Yes. Granville Public Library, 217 E. Broadway, serves 14,524 people in and around Granville (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Granville 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 Granville’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 17.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Granville’s civic life grade?
A+ Granville is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 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 Granville.
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.