Episcopal Church of the Ascension and Manse · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWellsville’s library runs 61 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Wellsville Carnegie Public Library serves 4,393 people in and around Wellsville. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,528 visits.
Wellsville’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
95% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
4,382 cards for 4,393 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Wellsville Carnegie Public Library spends $126 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; Wellsville Carnegie Public Library serves 4,393 people in and around Wellsville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wellsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wellsville is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #795 of 914 in Ohio. Wellsville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Wellsville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Wellsville
3.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Wellsville’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 Wellsville’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Wellsville Carnegie Public Library serves 4,393 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wellsville Carnegie Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,509 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Wellsville Carnegie Public Library, 115 Ninth St., Wellsville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wellsville Carnegie Public Library branch.
New in Wellsville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wellsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $551K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $455K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $551K 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 4,382 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellsville | Wellsville Carnegie Public Library | — | 51 | C− |
| Yellow Creek 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. Wellsville Carnegie Public Library serves 4,393 people in and around Wellsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wellsville.
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 Wellsville
Does Wellsville have a public library?
Yes. Wellsville Carnegie Public Library, 115 Ninth St., serves 4,393 people in and around Wellsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wellsville Carnegie 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 Wellsville’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wellsville’s civic life grade?
C− Wellsville is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #795 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 Wellsville.
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.