Photo: Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0Plain Township’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
North Canton Public Library serves 30,106 people in and around Plain Township. Last year it lent 796K books, movies and e-books and logged 138K visits.
What Plain Township’s library is like
More library cards than residents
46,919 cards for 30,106 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
58% of the budget comes from the state, and 29% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
North Canton Public Library ran 1,515 programs last year, about 29 a week. That’s 50 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 40,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
North Canton Public Library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. 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; North Canton Public Library serves 30,106 people in and around Plain Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Plain Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Plain Township is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #479 of 914 in Ohio. Plain Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Plain Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
182 community nonprofits are registered in Plain Township
3.4 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 (45 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Plain Township’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 Plain Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 20 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
North Canton Public Library serves 30,106 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 327 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole North Canton Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
796K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
195,177 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Plain Township
North Canton Public Library, 185 N. Main St., North Canton.
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 Canton Public Library branch.
New in Plain Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other North Canton Public Library branches in Plain Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plain Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 46,919 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain Township | North Canton Public Library | — | 47 | B |
| Canton | Stark County District Library fine-free | — | 58 | A− |
| Jackson Township | Jackson Community Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | B |
| North Canton | North Canton Public Library | — | 47 | B+ |
| Lake Township | Lake Community fine-free | — | 58 | B+ |
| Canton Township | Southgate Branch Library fine-free | — | 54 | C |
| Nimishillen Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. North Canton Public Library serves 30,106 people in and around Plain Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Plain Township.
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 Plain Township
Does Plain Township have a public library?
Yes. North Canton Public Library, 185 N. Main St., serves 30,106 people in and around Plain Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Canton Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Plain Township’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 26.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Plain Township’s civic life grade?
B Plain Township is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #479 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 Plain Township.
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.