Photo: Nyttend · Public domainJennings Township’s library is a branch of Putnam County District Library, which lends more per resident than 64% of systems its size
Jennings Township’s library is the Fort Jennings Branch, a branch of Putnam County District Library, which serves 34,378 people and lent 237K items last year.
Jennings Township’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
92% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
The Jennings Township branch keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Jennings Township’s library is a branch of Putnam County District Library, so they cover the whole system (34,378 people), not just the Jennings Township branch.
What’s behind Jennings Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jennings Township is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. Jennings Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Jennings Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Jennings Township
2.9 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.6%
12.6% of Jennings 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 Jennings Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Putnam County District Library serves 34,378 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Putnam County District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
237K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
57,576 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Fort Jennings Branch, 360 N Water St., Ft. Jennings.
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 Putnam County District Library branch.
New in Jennings 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 $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jennings Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 8,583 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jennings Township | Fort Jennings Branch fine-free | — | 19 | B+ |
| Monterey Township | Ottoville-Monterey Township Branch fine-free | — | 19 | A+ |
| Delphos | Delphos Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | A− |
| Washington Township | Delphos Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | A− |
| Marion Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Jackson Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sugar Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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. Fort Jennings Branch is one branch of Putnam County District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 34,378 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 Jennings Township
Does Jennings Township have a public library?
Yes: Fort Jennings Branch, 360 N Water St., is a branch of Putnam County District Library, which serves 34,378 people. The branch is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Putnam 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 Jennings Township’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Jennings Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Jennings Township is ahead of 68% 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 Jennings 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.