Photo: Ken Winters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · Public domainVermilion’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ritter Public Library serves 14,472 people in and around Vermilion. Last year it lent 218K books, movies and e-books and logged 93K visits.
What Vermilion’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Ritter Public Library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
40% 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 4.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
18,000 people came to the system’s 642 programs last year: 1.2 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Vermilion branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Ritter Public Library serves 14,472 people in and around Vermilion, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Vermilion’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Vermilion is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #184 of 914 in Ohio. Vermilion is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Vermilion’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 →
68 community nonprofits are registered in Vermilion
6.5 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 (12 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.
8.2%
8.2% of Vermilion’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 Vermilion’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ritter Public Library serves 14,472 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 65 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ritter Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
218K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
66,196 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ritter Public Library, 5680 Liberty Ave., Vermilion.
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 Ritter Public Library branch.
New in Vermilion? 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 $1.99 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vermilion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 9,315 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermilion | Ritter Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | A− |
| Lorain | Lorain Public Library fine-free | — | 59 | D |
| Brownhelm Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Vermilion 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. Ritter Public Library serves 14,472 people in and around Vermilion, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Vermilion.
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 Vermilion
Does Vermilion have a public library?
Yes. Ritter Public Library, 5680 Liberty Ave., serves 14,472 people in and around Vermilion (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ritter 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 Vermilion’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 15.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Vermilion’s civic life grade?
A− Vermilion is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #184 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 Vermilion.
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.