Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPerrysburg’s library lends 22 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Way Public Library serves Perrysburg’s 24,972 residents. Last year it lent 686K books, movies and e-books and logged 381K visits.
Perrysburg’s library, in brief
Perrysburg uses its library more than almost any town its size
Way Public Library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 22 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
26,013 cards for 24,972 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 40% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 34 items per child in Perrysburg last year. Kids & programs ↓
Ohio pays a big share
43% of the budget comes from the state, and 48% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 20% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Perrysburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Perrysburg is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #80 of 914 in Ohio. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Way Public Library logged 15.2 visits per resident in FY2024, #65 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
158 community nonprofits are registered in Perrysburg
6.3 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 (27 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.
8.1%
8.1% of Perrysburg’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 Perrysburg’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 194 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Way Public Library serves 24,972 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
686K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 116K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.7 times last year, on average.
139,082 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Perrysburg last year.
Find it
Way Public Library, 101 E. Indiana Ave., Perrysburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Perrysburg? 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 $4.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Perrysburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 26,013 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perrysburg | Way Public Library fine-free | 27.5 | 68 | A |
| Perrysburg Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Middleton 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.
- Visits count everyone. Perrysburg’s 380,744 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Way Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Perrysburg
Does Perrysburg have a public library?
Yes. Way Public Library, 101 E. Indiana Ave., serves Perrysburg’s 24,972 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Way 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 Perrysburg’s library?
It logged 15.2 visits and lent 27.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Perrysburg’s civic life grade?
A Perrysburg is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #80 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 Perrysburg.
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.