Photo: Photo by and ©2010 Dustin M. Ramsey (Kralizec!) · CC BY-SA 2.5North Baltimore’s library lends 23 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
North Baltimore Public Library serves 4,187 people in and around North Baltimore. Last year it lent 102K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.
The short version on North Baltimore’s library
Ohio pays a big share
55% of the budget comes from the state, and 32% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
North Baltimore Public Library lends 23 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
7,672 people came to the system’s 288 programs last year: 1.8 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
North Baltimore Public Library spends $129 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; North Baltimore Public Library serves 4,187 people in and around North Baltimore, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind North Baltimore’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, North Baltimore is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #422 of 914 in Ohio. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in North Baltimore
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.7%
6.7% of North Baltimore’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 North Baltimore’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
North Baltimore Public Library serves 4,187 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole North Baltimore Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
102K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,573 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
North Baltimore Public Library, 230 N. Main St., North Baltimore.
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 North Baltimore Public Library branch.
New in North Baltimore? 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 $2.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Baltimore cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $538K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $538K 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 2,905 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. North Baltimore Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. North Baltimore Public Library serves 4,187 people in and around North Baltimore, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just North Baltimore.
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 North Baltimore
Does North Baltimore have a public library?
Yes. North Baltimore Public Library, 230 N. Main St., serves 4,187 people in and around North Baltimore (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Baltimore 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 North Baltimore’s library?
It logged 6.5 visits and lent 24.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is North Baltimore’s civic life grade?
B North Baltimore is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #422 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 North Baltimore.
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.