Photo: Nyttend · Public domainJefferson Township’s library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Oak Hill Public Library serves 7,345 people in and around Jefferson Township. Last year it lent 26K print books and media and logged 39K visits.
What Jefferson Township’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
94% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
9,618 cards for 7,345 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Oak Hill Public Library offered 16 programs last year, 2.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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; Oak Hill Public Library serves 7,345 people in and around Jefferson Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Jefferson Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jefferson Township is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #701 of 914 in Ohio. Jefferson Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Jefferson Township
3.0 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.
7.2%
7.2% of Jefferson 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 Jefferson Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Oak Hill Public Library serves 7,345 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oak Hill Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
26K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
16 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Oak Hill Public Library, 226 South Front Street., Oak Hill.
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 Oak Hill Public Library branch.
New in Jefferson 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 $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jefferson Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $283K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $420K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $283K 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 9,618 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Township | Oak Hill Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | C |
| Hamilton Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Madison Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Greenfield Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Oak Hill Public Library serves 7,345 people in and around Jefferson Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jefferson Township.
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 Jefferson Township
Does Jefferson Township have a public library?
Yes. Oak Hill Public Library, 226 South Front Street., serves 7,345 people in and around Jefferson Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oak Hill 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 Jefferson Township’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 3.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Jefferson Township’s civic life grade?
C Jefferson Township is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #701 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 Jefferson 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.