Photo: Roseohioresident · Public domainMinerva’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Minerva Public Library serves 11,782 people in and around Minerva. Last year it lent 197K books, movies and e-books and logged 57K visits.
Minerva’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
97% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% 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 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 784 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Minerva Public Library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Minerva Public Library ran 784 programs last year, about 15 a week. That’s 67 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 21,000 attended. 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; Minerva Public Library serves 11,782 people in and around Minerva, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Minerva’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Minerva is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #428 of 914 in Ohio. Minerva 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Minerva
4.1 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Minerva’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 Minerva’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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.
Minerva Public Library serves 11,782 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 84 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Minerva Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
197K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
33,290 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Minerva Public Library, 677 Lynwood Dr., Minerva.
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 Minerva Public Library branch.
New in Minerva? 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 $4.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Minerva cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $709K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $709K 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 6,887 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minerva | Minerva Public Library fine-free | — | 45 | B |
| Paris Township | Minerva Public Library fine-free | — | 45 | B |
| Pekin | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Minerva Public Library serves 11,782 people in and around Minerva, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Minerva.
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 Minerva
Does Minerva have a public library?
Yes. Minerva Public Library, 677 Lynwood Dr., serves 11,782 people in and around Minerva (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Minerva 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 Minerva’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 16.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Minerva’s civic life grade?
B Minerva is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #428 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 Minerva.
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.