Lithopolis’ library lends 56 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Wagnalls Memorial Library serves Lithopolis’s 2,134 residents. Last year it lent 139K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.
Lithopolis’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
7,407 cards for 2,134 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
85% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Lithopolis uses its library more than almost any town its size
Wagnalls Memorial Library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 56 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 88 items per child in Lithopolis last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 8.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 14% of all loans. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Lithopolis’ civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Lithopolis is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #119 of 914 in Ohio. Lithopolis is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Wagnalls Memorial Library logged 16.5 visits per resident in FY2024, #52 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 Lithopolis
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lithopolis last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Wagnalls Memorial Library serves 2,134 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 70 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
139K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 63K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
19,095 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Wagnalls Memorial Library, 150 E Columbus St., Lithopolis.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lithopolis? 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 $4.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lithopolis cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $435K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $435K 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 7,407 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithopolis | Wagnalls Memorial Library fine-free | 65.0 | 38 | A |
| Canal Winchester | Canal Winchester Branch Library fine-free | — | 62 | 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 count everyone. Lithopolis’ 35,256 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Wagnalls Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Lithopolis
Does Lithopolis have a public library?
Yes. Wagnalls Memorial Library, 150 E Columbus St., serves Lithopolis’ 2,134 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wagnalls Memorial 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 Lithopolis’ library?
It logged 16.5 visits and lent 65.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lithopolis’ civic life grade?
A Lithopolis is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #119 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 Lithopolis.
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.