Photo: Christopher L. Riley · CC BY-SA 4.0Napoleon’s library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Napoleon Public Library serves 14,361 people in and around Napoleon. Last year it lent 115K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.
The short version on Napoleon’s library
Ohio pays a big share
57% of the budget comes from the state, and 37% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 74%. People come in, pick up their books and go. 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; Napoleon Public Library serves 14,361 people in and around Napoleon, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Napoleon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Napoleon is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #5 of 914 in Ohio. Napoleon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Napoleon near the top nationally; Napoleon’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 →
100 community nonprofits are registered in Napoleon
11.4 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.9%
13.9% of Napoleon’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 Napoleon’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Napoleon Public Library serves 14,361 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Napoleon Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
115K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
20,155 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Napoleon Public Library, 310 W. Clinton St., Napoleon.
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 Napoleon Public Library branch.
New in Napoleon? 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 $2.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Napoleon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $758K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $758K 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 8,010 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Napoleon | Napoleon Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | A+ |
| Liberty Township | Liberty Center Public Library fine-free | — | 50 | A |
| Harrison 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. Napoleon Public Library serves 14,361 people in and around Napoleon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Napoleon.
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 Napoleon
Does Napoleon have a public library?
Yes. Napoleon Public Library, 310 W. Clinton St., serves 14,361 people in and around Napoleon (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Napoleon 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 Napoleon’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Napoleon’s civic life grade?
A+ Napoleon is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 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 Napoleon.
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.