Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMonroe Township’s library is a branch of Licking County Library, which lends more per resident than 78% of systems its size
Monroe Township’s library is the Mary E. Babcock Library, a branch of Licking County Library, which serves 118,136 people and lent 944K items last year.
What stands out about Mary E. Babcock Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Monroe Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Monroe Township is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #269 of 914 in Ohio. Monroe 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Monroe Township
4.5 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Monroe 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 Monroe Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Licking County Library serves 118,136 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Licking County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
944K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
245,913 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Mary E. Babcock Library, 320 N. Main Street, Johnstown.
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 Licking County Library branch.
New in Monroe 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monroe Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.7M 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 36,672 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe Township | Mary E. Babcock Library fine-free | — | 52 | A− |
| Liberty Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Hartford Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Jersey Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Harlem 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. Mary E. Babcock Library is one branch of Licking County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 118,136 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 Monroe Township
Does Monroe Township have a public library?
Yes: Mary E. Babcock Library, 320 N. Main Street, is a branch of Licking County Library, which serves 118,136 people. The branch is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Licking County 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 Monroe Township’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Monroe Township’s civic life grade?
A− Monroe Township is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #269 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 Monroe 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.