Almond’s library is a branch of Portage County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 59% of systems its size
Almond’s library is the Almond Branch, a branch of Portage County Public Library, which serves 71,009 people and lent 440K items last year.
What stands out about Almond Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Almond’s civic life grade
Almond isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Portage County Public Library serves 71,009 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 61 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Portage County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
440K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
108,465 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Almond Branch, 122 Main St., Almond.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Portage County Public Library branch.
New in Almond? 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 $3.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Almond cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 18,713 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Almond Branch is one branch of Portage County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 71,009 people it serves.
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 Almond
Does Almond have a public library?
Yes: Almond Branch, 122 Main St., is a branch of Portage County Public Library, which serves 71,009 people. The branch is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Portage County 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 Almond’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Almond’s civic life grade?
Almond isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Almond.
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.