Photo: Nyttend · Public domainLima’s library runs 5.7 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Lima Public Library serves 90,173 people in and around Lima. Last year it lent 455K books, movies and e-books and logged 147K visits.
The short version on Lima’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
29% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lima Public Library offered 518 programs last year, 5.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. 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; Lima Public Library serves 90,173 people in and around Lima, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lima’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lima is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #465 of 914 in Ohio. Lima is graded on two of the three inputs. Lima’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
235 community nonprofits are registered in Lima
6.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (72 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Lima’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 Lima’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lima Public Library serves 90,173 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lima Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
455K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
137,462 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Lima Public Library, 650 W. Market St., Lima.
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 Lima Public Library branch.
New in Lima? 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 $2.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lima cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 24,819 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lima | Lima Public Library fine-free | — | 58 | B |
| American Township | Elida Branch Library fine-free | — | 36 | C− |
| Bath Township | Osu Lima Campus fine-free | — | 57 | D |
| Shawnee Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Perry Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Lima Public Library serves 90,173 people in and around Lima, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lima.
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 Lima
Does Lima have a public library?
Yes. Lima Public Library, 650 W. Market St., serves 90,173 people in and around Lima (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lima 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 Lima’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lima’s civic life grade?
B Lima is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #465 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 Lima.
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.