Photo: JonRidinger · CC BY-SA 4.0Kirtland’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Kirtland Public Library serves 7,970 people in and around Kirtland. Last year it lent 152K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
The short version on Kirtland’s library
Ohio pays a big share
57% of the budget comes from the state, and 31% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Kirtland Public Library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Kirtland Public Library spends $109 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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; Kirtland Public Library serves 7,970 people in and around Kirtland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Kirtland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Kirtland is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #744 of 914 in Ohio. Library visits hold the grade up; Kirtland’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($83K–$138K) 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 Kirtland
1.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
6.0%
6.0% of Kirtland’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 Kirtland’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Kirtland Public Library serves 7,970 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kirtland Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
152K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,682 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Kirtland Public Library, 9267 Chillicothe Rd., Kirtland.
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 Kirtland Public Library branch.
New in Kirtland? 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 $2.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kirtland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $868K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $868K 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 3,680 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirtland | Kirtland Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| Willoughby Hills | Willoughby Hills Branch fine-free | — | 52 | D |
| Willoughby | Willoughby Branch Library fine-free | — | 68 | B− |
| Chester Township | Geauga West Branch fine-free | — | 68 | A |
| Mentor | Mentor Public Library fine-free | — | 70 | B |
| Waite Hill | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Kirtland Hills | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chardon 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Kirtland Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Kirtland Public Library serves 7,970 people in and around Kirtland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kirtland.
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 Kirtland
Does Kirtland have a public library?
Yes. Kirtland Public Library, 9267 Chillicothe Rd., serves 7,970 people in and around Kirtland (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kirtland 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 Kirtland’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 19.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Kirtland’s civic life grade?
C Kirtland is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #744 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 Kirtland.
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.