Photo: Roseohioresident · CC BY-SA 4.0Lawrence Township’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Canal Fulton Public Library serves 13,076 people in and around Lawrence Township. Last year it lent 192K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
What Lawrence Township’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Ohio pays a big share
52% of the budget comes from the state, and 38% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Canal Fulton Public Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Canal Fulton Public Library ran 720 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 55 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 18,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Canal Fulton Public Library spends $99 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; Canal Fulton Public Library serves 13,076 people in and around Lawrence Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lawrence Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lawrence Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #281 of 914 in Ohio. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
53 community nonprofits are registered in Lawrence Township
3.9 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Lawrence 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 Lawrence Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Canal Fulton Public Library serves 13,076 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 62 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Canal Fulton Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
192K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,088 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Canal Fulton Public Library, 154 Market St. NE, Canal Fulton.
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 Canal Fulton Public Library branch.
New in Lawrence 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 $2.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lawrence Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 7,888 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Township | Canal Fulton Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B+ |
| New Franklin | Portage Lakes Branch Library fine-free | — | 53 | B− |
| Jackson Township | Jackson Community Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | B |
| Baughman Township | Orrville Public Library fine-free | — | 51 | B− |
| Green | Green Branch Library fine-free | — | 53 | B− |
| Tuscarawas Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Clinton | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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. Canal Fulton Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Canal Fulton Public Library serves 13,076 people in and around Lawrence Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lawrence 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 Lawrence Township
Does Lawrence Township have a public library?
Yes. Canal Fulton Public Library, 154 Market St. NE, serves 13,076 people in and around Lawrence Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Canal Fulton 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 Lawrence Township’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 14.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lawrence Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Lawrence Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #281 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 Lawrence 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.