Photo: Nyttend · Public domainLiberty Township’s library lends 6.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bettsville Public Library serves 2,049 people in and around Liberty Township. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,380 visits.
The short version on Liberty Township’s library
More library cards than residents
4,781 cards for 2,049 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
76% of the budget comes from the state, and 5% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 74% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 82%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bettsville Public Library offered 9 programs last year, 4.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Bettsville Public Library serves 2,049 people in and around Liberty Township, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Liberty Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Liberty Township is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Liberty Township
3.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.7%
9.7% of Liberty 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 Liberty Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bettsville Public Library serves 2,049 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bettsville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9 programs a year
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
Bettsville Public Library, 233 State St., Bettsville.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Bettsville Public Library branch.
New in Liberty 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Liberty Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $144K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $217K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $144K 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 4,781 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Township | Bettsville Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | C+ |
| Jackson Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Pleasant Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Hopewell Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Jackson 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. Bettsville Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Bettsville Public Library serves 2,049 people in and around Liberty Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Liberty 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 Liberty Township
Does Liberty Township have a public library?
Yes. Bettsville Public Library, 233 State St., serves 2,049 people in and around Liberty Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bettsville Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Liberty Township’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Liberty Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Liberty Township is ahead of 40% 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 Liberty 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.