Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHarrison Township’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Brown Memorial Library serves 1,745 people in and around Harrison Township. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,800 visits.
The short version on Harrison Township’s library
Ohio pays a big share
83% of the budget comes from the state, and 13% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Harrison Township is a town of borrowers
Brown Memorial Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 89% 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 Harrison Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Harrison Township is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #454 of 914 in Ohio. Harrison Township 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Harrison Township
3.7 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.6%
8.6% of Harrison Township’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 Harrison Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Brown Memorial Library serves 1,745 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
3,761 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Brown Memorial Library, 101 S. Commerce St., Lewisburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Harrison Township? 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 $1.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harrison Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $187K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $366K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $187K 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 1,096 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison Township | Brown Memorial Library fine-free | 13.0 | 45 | B |
| Monroe Township | Eldorado Branch Library fine-free | — | 15 | B+ |
| Twin Township | West Alexandria Branch Library fine-free | — | 28 | B |
| Twin Township | Arcanum Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | A− |
| Clay 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Harrison Township
Does Harrison Township have a public library?
Yes. Brown Memorial Library, 101 S. Commerce St., serves 1,745 people in and around Harrison Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brown 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 Harrison Township’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 13.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Harrison Township’s civic life grade?
B Harrison Township is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #454 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 Harrison Township.
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.