St. Louis Church · Photo: Roseohioresident · Public domainLouisville’s library lends 8.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Louisville Public Library serves 18,809 people in and around Louisville. Last year it lent 182K books, movies and e-books and logged 67K visits.
The short version on Louisville’s library
Ohio pays a big share
63% of the budget comes from the state, and 28% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 63% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. 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; Louisville Public Library serves 18,809 people in and around Louisville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Louisville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Louisville is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #442 of 914 in Ohio. Louisville is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Louisville’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Louisville
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.5%
10.5% of Louisville’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 Louisville’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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Louisville Public Library serves 18,809 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Louisville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
182K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,172 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Louisville Public Library, 1600 S Nickleplate St., Louisville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Louisville Public Library branch.
New in Louisville? 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 $2.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Louisville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 9,782 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Louisville Public Library serves 18,809 people in and around Louisville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Louisville.
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 Louisville
Does Louisville have a public library?
Yes. Louisville Public Library, 1600 S Nickleplate St., serves 18,809 people in and around Louisville (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Louisville Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Louisville’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 9.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Louisville’s civic life grade?
B Louisville is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #442 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 Louisville.
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.