Photo: PokéTube · CC BY-SA 4.0Steubenville’s library logs 2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County serves 65,249 people in and around Steubenville from 2 locations. Last year it lent 358K books, movies and e-books and logged 131K visits.
What Steubenville’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
64% of the budget comes from the state, and 31% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Library of Steubenville has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1992. Today’s library there has 22,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
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; Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County serves 65,249 people in and around Steubenville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Steubenville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Steubenville is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #609 of 914 in Ohio. Steubenville is graded on two of the three inputs. Steubenville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$60K) 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 →
97 community nonprofits are registered in Steubenville
5.4 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 (50 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of Steubenville’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 Steubenville’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1992
Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County, 407 S. 4th St., Steubenville.
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 Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County branch.
New in Steubenville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Library of Steubenville
Carnegie Library of Steubenville was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 16, 1992. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Romanesque.
More about the building →Other Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County branches in Steubenville
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County serves 65,249 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
358K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,491 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Steubenville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 22,547 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weirton | Mary H. Weir Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 41 | D |
| Steubenville | Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County fine-free | — | 59 | C+ |
| Island Creek Township | Toronto Branch fine-free | — | 53 | C+ |
| Cross Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Steubenville Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Mingo Junction | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Wintersville | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Pottery Addition | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County serves 65,249 people in and around Steubenville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Steubenville.
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 Steubenville
Does Steubenville have a public library?
Yes. Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County, 407 S. 4th St., serves 65,249 people in and around Steubenville (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County 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 Steubenville’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Steubenville’s civic life grade?
C+ Steubenville is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #609 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 Steubenville.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.