Photo: USDA Forest Service photo by Kyle Brooks · CC BY-SA 4.0Nelsonville’s library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Athens County Public Libraries serves 62,431 people in and around Nelsonville. Last year it lent 559K books, movies and e-books and logged 316K visits.
The short version on Nelsonville’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 ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
54,607 cards for 62,431 people, or 87%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. 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; Athens County Public Libraries serves 62,431 people in and around Nelsonville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Nelsonville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Nelsonville is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #158 of 914 in Ohio. Nelsonville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Nelsonville’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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Nelsonville
8.0 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Nelsonville’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 Nelsonville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Athens County Public Libraries serves 62,431 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Athens County Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
559K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
139,627 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Athens County Public Libraries, 95 W. Washington, Nelsonville.
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 Athens County Public Libraries branch.
New in Nelsonville? 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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nelsonville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.1M 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 54,607 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelsonville | Athens County Public Libraries fine-free | — | 44 | A− |
| York Township | Athens County Public Libraries fine-free | — | 44 | B+ |
| Buchtel | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ward Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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. Athens County Public Libraries serves 62,431 people in and around Nelsonville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Nelsonville.
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 Nelsonville
Does Nelsonville have a public library?
Yes. Athens County Public Libraries, 95 W. Washington, serves 62,431 people in and around Nelsonville (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Athens County Public Libraries 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 Nelsonville’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 9.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Nelsonville’s civic life grade?
A− Nelsonville is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #158 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 Nelsonville.
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.