Look About Lodge · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHudson’s library logs 23 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Hudson Library and Historical Society serves 25,377 people in and around Hudson. Last year it lent 1.2M books, movies and e-books and logged 594K visits.
What Hudson’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Hudson Library and Historical Society logs 23 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 35 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Hudson Library and Historical Society ran 1,214 programs last year, about 23 a week. That’s 48 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 45,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 13 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Ohio pays a big share
34% of the budget comes from the state, and 55% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Hudson Library and Historical Society serves 25,377 people in and around Hudson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hudson’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hudson is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #167 of 914 in Ohio. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Hudson Library and Historical Society logged 23.4 visits per resident in FY2024, #18 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
121 community nonprofits are registered in Hudson
5.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Hudson’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 Hudson’s residents live; 2022.
About 15 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hudson Library and Historical Society serves 25,377 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 362 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hudson Library and Historical Society system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
318,984 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hudson Library and Historical Society, 96 Library Street, Hudson.
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 Hudson Library and Historical Society branch.
New in Hudson? 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 $4.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hudson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.3M 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 21,554 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson | Hudson Library and Historical Society fine-free | — | 64 | A− |
| Streetsboro | Pierce Streetsboro Library fine-free | — | 56 | C+ |
| Boston Township | Peninsula Library & Historical Society fine-free | — | 60 | A− |
| Stow | Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | B |
| Macedonia | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Boston Heights | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Twinsburg 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.
- Visits count everyone. Hudson’s 594,360 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hudson Library and Historical Society counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Hudson Library and Historical Society serves 25,377 people in and around Hudson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hudson.
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 Hudson
Does Hudson have a public library?
Yes. Hudson Library and Historical Society, 96 Library Street, serves 25,377 people in and around Hudson (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hudson Library and Historical Society 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 Hudson’s library?
It logged 23.4 visits and lent 47.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Its visits per resident rank #18 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Hudson’s civic life grade?
A− Hudson is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #167 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 Hudson.
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.