Photo: Dough4872 · Public domainMarion Township’s library lends 8.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Blanchester Public Library serves 7,143 people in and around Marion Township. Last year it lent 72K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
What Marion Township’s library is like
More library cards than residents
9,266 cards for 7,143 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
66% of the budget comes from the state, and 30% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 446 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Blanchester Public Library spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 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; Blanchester Public Library serves 7,143 people in and around Marion Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Marion Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Marion Township is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #342 of 914 in Ohio. Marion Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Marion Township
4.1 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Marion 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 Marion Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Blanchester Public Library serves 7,143 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Blanchester Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
72K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,848 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Blanchester Public Library, 110 N. Broadway, Blanchester.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Blanchester Public Library branch.
New in Marion 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 $1.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marion Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $661K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $661K 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 9,266 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion Township | Blanchester Public Library | — | 48 | B+ |
| Vernon Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Harlan Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. Blanchester Public Library serves 7,143 people in and around Marion Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Marion 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 Marion Township
Does Marion Township have a public library?
Yes. Blanchester Public Library, 110 N. Broadway, serves 7,143 people in and around Marion Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blanchester 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 Marion Township’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 10.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Marion Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Marion Township is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #342 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 Marion 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.