Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMount Sterling’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Mt Sterling Public Library serves 13,303 people in and around Mount Sterling. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,876 visits.
Mount Sterling’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
77% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Mt Sterling Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Mt Sterling Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mt Sterling Public Library offered 98 programs last year, 7.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
65% of the 98 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 50 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; Mt Sterling Public Library serves 13,303 people in and around Mount Sterling, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mount Sterling’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Sterling is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. Mount Sterling 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Sterling
4.2 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.1%
10.1% of Mount Sterling’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 Sterling’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mt Sterling Public Library serves 13,303 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mt Sterling Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,354 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Sterling Public Library, 60 W. Columbus St., Mt. Sterling.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mt Sterling Public Library branch.
New in Mount Sterling? 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 $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Sterling cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $280K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $383K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $280K 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 2,897 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mt Sterling Public Library serves 13,303 people in and around Mount Sterling, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Sterling.
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 Sterling
Does Mount Sterling have a public library?
Yes. Mt Sterling Public Library, 60 W. Columbus St., serves 13,303 people in and around Mount Sterling (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mt Sterling 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 Mount Sterling’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mount Sterling’s civic life grade?
A− Mount Sterling is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Sterling.
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.