Photo: John Siegenthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Mansfield’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Mansfield-Richland County Public Library serves 99,110 people in and around Mansfield. Last year it lent 1.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 515K visits.
What Mansfield’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Mansfield-Richland County Public Library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
33% of the budget comes from the state, and 50% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 3,090 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 21 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Mansfield-Richland County Public Library spends $129 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 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; Mansfield-Richland County Public Library serves 99,110 people in and around Mansfield, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mansfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mansfield is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #683 of 914 in Ohio. Mansfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Mansfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$56K) 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 →
191 community nonprofits are registered in Mansfield
4.0 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 (68 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Mansfield’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 Mansfield’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
372,016 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mansfield-Richland County Public Library serves 99,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 55 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mansfield-Richland County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 45 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
Mansfield/Richland County Public Library, 43 W. Third St., Mansfield.
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 Mansfield-Richland County Public Library branch.
New in Mansfield? 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 $3.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mansfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $48M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M 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 57,681 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mansfield | Mansfield/Richland County Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C |
| Madison Township | Madison Branch fine-free | — | 57 | D |
| Springfield Township | Ontario Branch Library fine-free | — | 61 | C |
| Weller Township | Crestview Branch fine-free | — | 57 | C− |
| Ontario | Ontario Branch Library fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| Troy Township | Lexington Branch Library fine-free | — | 57 | C+ |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Roseland | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Lincoln Heights | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Mansfield-Richland County Public Library serves 99,110 people in and around Mansfield, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mansfield.
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 Mansfield
Does Mansfield have a public library?
Yes. Mansfield-Richland County Public Library, 43 W. Third St., serves 99,110 people in and around Mansfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mansfield-Richland County 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 Mansfield’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 15.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Mansfield’s civic life grade?
C Mansfield is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #683 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 Mansfield.
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.