Photo: Vasiliymeshko · CC BY 4.0Ironton’s library runs 21 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Briggs Lawrence County Public Library serves 58,066 people in and around Ironton. Last year it lent 236K books, movies and e-books and logged 81K visits.
Ironton’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
90% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
55,119 cards for 58,066 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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; Briggs Lawrence County Public Library serves 58,066 people in and around Ironton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ironton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ironton is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #419 of 914 in Ohio. Ironton is graded on two of the three inputs. Ironton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
78 community nonprofits are registered in Ironton
7.2 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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Ironton’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 Ironton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Briggs Lawrence County Public Library serves 58,066 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Briggs Lawrence County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
236K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
67,843 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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.
Find it
Briggs Lawrence County Public Library, 321 S. 4th St., Ironton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Briggs Lawrence County Public Library branch.
New in Ironton? 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 $1.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ironton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 55,119 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ironton | Briggs Lawrence County Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | B |
| Upper Township | Briggs Lawrence County Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | B− |
| Coal Grove | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Russell | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Hanging Rock | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hamilton Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Westwood | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. Briggs Lawrence County Public Library serves 58,066 people in and around Ironton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ironton.
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 Ironton
Does Ironton have a public library?
Yes. Briggs Lawrence County Public Library, 321 S. 4th St., serves 58,066 people in and around Ironton (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Briggs Lawrence County Public 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 Ironton’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ironton’s civic life grade?
B Ironton is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #419 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 Ironton.
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.