Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Canton’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Green Free Library of Canton serves 5,548 people in and around Canton. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,187 visits.
The short version on Canton’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
68% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Green Free Library of Canton is used less than most libraries its size
Green Free Library of Canton records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 78 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Green Free Library of Canton spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Green Free Library of Canton serves 5,548 people in and around Canton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Canton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Canton is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Canton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Canton’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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Canton
5.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.4%
8.4% of Canton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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 Canton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Green Free Library of Canton serves 5,548 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Green Free Library of Canton system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,159 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Green Free Library of Canton, 38 N. Center Street, Canton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Green Free Library of Canton branch.
New in Canton? 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 $2.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $81K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $196K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $81K 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 608 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Green Free Library of Canton serves 5,548 people in and around Canton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Canton.
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 Canton
Does Canton have a public library?
Yes. Green Free Library of Canton, 38 N. Center Street, serves 5,548 people in and around Canton (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Green Free Library of Canton 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 Canton’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Canton’s civic life grade?
B+ Canton is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Canton.
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.