Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHolgate’s library logs 1.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Holgate Community Library serves 2,398 people in and around Holgate. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,524 visits.
Holgate’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
48% of the budget comes from the state, and 50% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
Holgate Community Library spends $116 per resident, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 77% of them. 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; Holgate Community Library serves 2,398 people in and around Holgate, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Holgate’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Holgate is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. Holgate 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Holgate
3.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
17.0%
17.0% of Holgate’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 Holgate’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Holgate cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $277K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $191K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $277K 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 858 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Holgate Community Library serves 2,398 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Holgate Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,124 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Holgate Community Library, 204 Railway Ave., Holgate.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Holgate Community Library branch.
New in Holgate? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Holgate Community Library serves 2,398 people in and around Holgate, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Holgate.
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 Holgate
Does Holgate have a public library?
Yes. Holgate Community Library, 204 Railway Ave., serves 2,398 people in and around Holgate (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Holgate Community 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 Holgate’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Holgate’s civic life grade?
A Holgate is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Holgate.
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.