Photo: Public domain · Public domainMount Gilead’s library lends 4.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Mt Gilead Public Library serves 7,902 people in and around Mount Gilead. Last year it lent 49K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
Mount Gilead’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
58% of the budget comes from the state, and 35% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
6,834 cards for 7,902 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
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; Mt Gilead Public Library serves 7,902 people in and around Mount Gilead, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mount Gilead’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Gilead is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #135 of 914 in Ohio. Mount Gilead is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mount Gilead’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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Gilead
6.3 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Mount Gilead’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 Mount Gilead’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mt Gilead Public Library serves 7,902 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mt Gilead Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
49K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,773 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 2 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
Mt Gilead Public Library, 41 E. High St., Mt. Gilead.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Mt Gilead Public Library branch.
New in Mount Gilead? 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 $2.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Gilead cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $280K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $835K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $280K 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 6,834 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Gilead | Mt Gilead Public Library fine-free | — | 45 | A− |
| Edison | 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. Mt Gilead Public Library serves 7,902 people in and around Mount Gilead, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Gilead.
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 Mount Gilead
Does Mount Gilead have a public library?
Yes. Mt Gilead Public Library, 41 E. High St., serves 7,902 people in and around Mount Gilead (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mt Gilead Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mount Gilead’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mount Gilead’s civic life grade?
A− Mount Gilead is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #135 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 Mount Gilead.
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.