Photo: Niagara · CC BY-SA 3.0Painesville’s library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Morley Library serves 54,224 people in and around Painesville. Last year it lent 455K books, movies and e-books and logged 128K visits.
What Painesville’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
54% of the budget comes from the state, and 36% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 1,228 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 9.4 a week 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; Morley Library serves 54,224 people in and around Painesville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Painesville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Painesville is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #713 of 914 in Ohio. Painesville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Painesville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$64K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Painesville
3.3 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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Painesville’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 Painesville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Morley Library serves 54,224 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 160 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Morley Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
455K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
119,558 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 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
Morley Library, 184 Phelps St., Painesville.
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 Morley Library branch.
New in Painesville? 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 $2.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Painesville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.8M 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 18,966 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Painesville | Morley Library fine-free | — | 55 | C |
| Painesville Township | Fairport Harbor Public Library fine-free | — | 50 | — graded with its twin city |
| Fairport Harbor | Fairport Harbor Public Library fine-free | — | 50 | C+ |
| Mentor | Mentor Public Library fine-free | — | 70 | B |
| Concord 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. Morley Library serves 54,224 people in and around Painesville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Painesville.
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 Painesville
Does Painesville have a public library?
Yes. Morley Library, 184 Phelps St., serves 54,224 people in and around Painesville (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morley 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 Painesville’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Painesville’s civic life grade?
C Painesville is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life, #713 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 Painesville.
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.