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Historic Downtown Hartville, Ohio in the springPhoto: DiscoverHartville · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lake Community · part of Stark County District Library

Hartville’s library is a branch of Stark County District Library, which lends more per resident than 83% of systems its size

Hartville’s library is the Lake Community, a branch of Stark County District Library, which serves 241,356 people and lent 2.4M items last year.

565 Market Ave SW, Uniontown 44685 · about 58 hours a week
ACivic lifeAhead of 92% of U.S. towns · #58 of 914 in Ohio. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (330) 877-9975 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
2.4M
10 per resident
Visits a year
664K
2.8 per resident · Above typical (2.1)
Programs & events
6,902
about 133 a week · 111K attended
Cardholders
38%
91,279 cards
Open
58 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

The short version on Hartville’s library

Three times the programs of a typical library its size

The Stark County District Library system ran 6,902 programs last year, about 133 a week. That’s 29 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 111,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓

Ohio pays a big share

40% of the budget comes from the state, and 54% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓

Most programs are for young children

70% of the 6,902 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 51 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓

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; Hartville’s library is a branch of Stark County District Library, so they cover the whole system (241,356 people), not just the Hartville branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Hartville’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hartville is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #58 of 914 in Ohio. Hartville 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.

A
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Hartville’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureA−Community nonprofits5.8 per 1,000 residents · OH towns 3.9 · U.S. 3.7A−Volunteering11.0% of adults 25–44 · OH towns 8.5% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 92%
FewerMore
Ohio towns we grade (914)Ahead of 94%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $52K–$87K (9,007)Ahead of 91%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Hartville is small (3,456 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

20 community nonprofits are registered in Hartville

5.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation51.36 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans30.80 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services30.98 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education30.89 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.09 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.30 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other41.18 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

11.0%

11.0% of Hartville’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 Hartville’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 93 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Hartville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–52,631
Ages 6–112,208
Teens303
Adults1,760
All ages0
Little ones
50.6

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

681K
kids’ books & media borrowed
111K
people at programs
6,902
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.8 visits · typical 2.1Higher than 71%
Borrowing per resident 6.8 print items · typical 3.2Higher than 83%
Digital borrowing 3.2 e-items · typical 1.4Higher than 82%
Kids’ borrowing 2.8 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 76%
Program attendance 0.5 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 88%
Programs offered 28.6 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Top 10%
Cardholders 38% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 56%
Spending $70 per resident · typical $36Higher than 83%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Stark County District Library serves 241,356 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

A year at Stark County District Library

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stark County District Library system. The library’s own count.

664K
visits
2.8 per resident
2.4M
loans, print + digital
10 per resident
6,902
programs & events
111K attended
91K
library cards
38% of people served
Every week2,133people at a program
Every day757Wi-Fi sessions
161 staff (full-time equivalent)169 public computers

Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.

What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

2.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

2.4Mloans
Books & media (adults) 39%Kids’ books & media 28%E-books, audio & streaming 32%
From your couch

779,085 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Lake Community, 565 Market Ave SW, Uniontown.

Directions(330) 877-9975
58
hours open a week
8,000
square feet
With a card

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 Stark County District Library branch.

New in Hartville? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.26 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hartville cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
1
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$528
a year at retail prices · $44 a month

Who pays for it
$70 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.

Local taxes 54%State 40%Gifts & other 6%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $38M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17M 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 91,279 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
  • System-wide. Lake Community is one branch of Stark County District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 241,356 people it serves.

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 Hartville

Does Hartville have a public library?

Yes: Lake Community, 565 Market Ave SW, is a branch of Stark County District Library, which serves 241,356 people. The branch is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Stark County District 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 Hartville’s library?

It logged 2.8 visits and lent 10.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Hartville’s civic life grade?

A Hartville is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #58 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 Hartville.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.