Photo: Nyttend · Public domainVersailles’ library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Worch Memorial Public Library serves 6,553 people in and around Versailles. Last year it lent 54K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
What Versailles’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
90% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 66% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
11,000 people came to the system’s 313 programs last year: 1.7 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 313 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.4 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Worch Memorial Public Library serves 6,553 people in and around Versailles, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Versailles’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Versailles is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #199 of 914 in Ohio. Versailles is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Versailles’ 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Versailles
8.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Versailles’ 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 Versailles’ residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Worch Memorial Public Library serves 6,553 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Worch Memorial Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,475 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Worch Memorial Public Library, 790 South Center St., Versailles.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Worch Memorial Public Library branch.
New in Versailles? 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 $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Versailles cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $435K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $888K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $435K 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 3,944 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Worch Memorial Public Library serves 6,553 people in and around Versailles, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Versailles.
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 Versailles
Does Versailles have a public library?
Yes. Worch Memorial Public Library, 790 South Center St., serves 6,553 people in and around Versailles (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Worch Memorial 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 Versailles’ library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Versailles’ civic life grade?
A− Versailles is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #199 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 Versailles.
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.