Photo: Nyttend · Public domainGratis’ library logs 8.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Marion Lawrence Memorial Library serves Gratis’s 844 residents. Last year it lent 6,043 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,916 visits.
What Gratis’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
92% of the budget comes from the state, and 7% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Marion Lawrence Memorial Library serves 844 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 32 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 67% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 27 items per child in Gratis last year. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Marion Lawrence Memorial Library holds 21,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 70% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Gratis’ civic life grade
Gratis isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
19 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Gratis last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Marion Lawrence Memorial Library serves 844 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
6,043 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
303 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Marion Lawrence Memorial Library, 15 E. Franklin Street, Gratis.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gratis? 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 $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gratis cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $91K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $95K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $91K 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 249 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gratis | Marion Lawrence Memorial Library fine-free | 7.2 | 32 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Gratis Township | Marion Lawrence Memorial Library fine-free | 7.2 | 32 | B+ |
| Lanier Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Marion Lawrence Memorial Library 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 Gratis
Does Gratis have a public library?
Yes. Marion Lawrence Memorial Library, 15 E. Franklin Street, serves Gratis’ 844 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marion Lawrence Memorial 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 Gratis’ library?
It logged 8.2 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gratis’ civic life grade?
Gratis isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Gratis.
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.