Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMarion Township’s library is a branch of Mercer County District Public Library, which lends more per resident than 73% of systems its size
Marion Township’s library is the Marion Branch Library, a branch of Mercer County District Public Library, which serves 29,024 people and lent 276K items last year.
What Marion Township’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
74% of the budget comes from the state, and 21% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 34% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 82% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 853 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 6.6 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Marion Township’s library is a branch of Mercer County District Public Library, so they cover the whole system (29,024 people), not just the Marion Township branch.
What’s behind Marion Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Marion Township is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #178 of 914 in Ohio. Marion Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Marion Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Marion Township
5.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% 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.
About 11 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mercer County District Public Library serves 29,024 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mercer County District Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
276K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
93,981 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Marion Branch Library, 5 E Franklin St., Chickasaw.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mercer County District 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 $3.13 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: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 9,708 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 | Marion Branch Library fine-free | — | 33 | A− |
| Jackson Township | Francis J. Stallo Memorial Library fine-free | — | 31 | A |
| McLean Township | A.J. Wise-Fort Loramie Branch fine-free | — | 24 | B |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Patterson Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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. Marion Branch Library is one branch of Mercer County District Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 29,024 people it serves.
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: Marion Branch Library, 5 E Franklin St., is a branch of Mercer County District Public Library, which serves 29,024 people. The branch is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mercer County District 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 Marion Township’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Marion Township’s civic life grade?
A− Marion Township is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #178 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.