Photo: Art Anderson · CC BY-SA 3.0Van Wert’s library runs 14 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Brumback Library serves 24,724 people in and around Van Wert. Last year it lent 104K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
What Van Wert’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
77% of the budget comes from the state, and 17% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
97% of the 350 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Brumback Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. Today’s library there has 29,010 square feet. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 50% of similar-size libraries. 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; Brumback Library serves 24,724 people in and around Van Wert, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Van Wert’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Van Wert is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #145 of 914 in Ohio. Van Wert is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Van Wert’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
85 community nonprofits are registered in Van Wert
7.9 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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Van Wert’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 Van Wert’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1979
Brumback Library, 215 W. Main St., Van Wert.
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 Brumback Library branch.
New in Van Wert? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Brumback Library
Brumback Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 29, 1979. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Richardsonian Romanesque.
The Brumback Library is a historic public library in the city of Van Wert, Ohio, United States. Opened at the beginning of the twentieth century in order to serve all residents of Van Wert County, it occupies an architecturally prominent building by David L. Stine, which was constructed with funds donated by a local businessman.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Brumback Library serves 24,724 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brumback Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
104K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
33,504 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, 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 $1.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Van Wert cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 4,706 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Wert | Brumback Library fine-free | — | 46 | A− |
| Pleasant Township | Brumback Library fine-free | — | 46 | A− |
| Ridge 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. Brumback Library serves 24,724 people in and around Van Wert, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Van Wert.
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 Van Wert
Does Van Wert have a public library?
Yes. Brumback Library, 215 W. Main St., serves 24,724 people in and around Van Wert (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brumback 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 Van Wert’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Van Wert’s civic life grade?
A− Van Wert is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #145 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 Van Wert.
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.