Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Ostrander

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Ostrander Branch · part of Delaware County District Library

Ostrander’s library is a branch of Delaware County District Library, which lends more per resident than 93% of systems its size

Ostrander’s library is the Ostrander Branch, a branch of Delaware County District Library, which serves 165,831 people and lent 2M items last year.

75 N. 4th. St., Ostrander 43061 · about 39 hours a week
ACivic lifeAhead of 90% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (740) 666-1410 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
2M
11.8 per resident
Visits a year
487K
2.9 per resident · Above typical (2.1)
Programs & events
1,069
about 21 a week · 45K attended
Cardholders
60%
100,230 cards
Open
39 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

The short version on Ostrander’s library

More than half the print loans are for kids

Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓

A system of heavy borrowers

The Delaware County District Library system lends 9.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓

Ohio pays a big share

31% of the budget comes from the state, and 56% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Ostrander’s library is a branch of Delaware County District Library, so they cover the whole system (165,831 people), not just the Ostrander branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Ostrander’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ostrander is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Ostrander 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.

A
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Ostrander’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureB+Community nonprofits5.0 per 1,000 residents · OH towns 3.9 · U.S. 3.7AVolunteering12.1% of adults 25–44 · OH towns 8.5% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 90%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $120K–$199K (1,604)Ahead of 92%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Ostrander is small (1,219 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

5 community nonprofits are registered in Ostrander

5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.20 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation11.39 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans00.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services00.20 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.69 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.20 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other11.19 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

12.1%

12.1% of Ostrander’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 Ostrander’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 13 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Ostrander →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5553
Ages 6–11113
Teens88
Adults303
All ages12
Little ones
10.6

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

872K
kids’ books & media borrowed
45K
people at programs
1,069
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.9 visits · typical 2.1Higher than 75%
Borrowing per resident 9.2 print items · typical 3.2Top 10%
Digital borrowing 2.6 e-items · typical 1.4Higher than 74%
Kids’ borrowing 5.3 kids’ items · typical 1.6Top 10%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 64%
Programs offered 6.4 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 70%
Cardholders 60% of residents · typical 41%Higher than 79%
Spending $52 per resident · typical $36Higher than 68%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Delaware County District Library serves 165,831 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 140 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Delaware County District Library system. The library’s own count.

487K
visits
2.9 per resident
2M
loans, print + digital
11.8 per resident
1,069
programs & events
45K attended
100K
library cards
60% of people served
Every open hour140items borrowed
Every week869people at a program
Every day148Wi-Fi sessions
89 staff (full-time equivalent)137 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

2Mloans
Books & media (adults) 33%Kids’ books & media 45%E-books, audio & streaming 22%
From your couch

433,553 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Ostrander Branch, 75 N. 4th. St., Ostrander.

Directions(740) 666-1410
39
hours open a week
3,500
square feet
With a card

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 Delaware County District Library branch.

New in Ostrander? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.35 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ostrander cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$348
a year at retail prices · $29 a month

Who pays for it
$52 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.5M.

Local taxes 56%State 31%Federal 1%Gifts & other 13%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $29M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.5M 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 100,230 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Ostrander Branch is one branch of Delaware County District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 165,831 people it serves.

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 Ostrander

Does Ostrander have a public library?

Yes: Ostrander Branch, 75 N. 4th. St., is a branch of Delaware County District Library, which serves 165,831 people. The branch is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Delaware County District 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 Ostrander’s library?

It logged 2.9 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Ostrander’s civic life grade?

A Ostrander is ahead of 90% 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 Ostrander.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.