Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island · Photo: Michael Swanda, U.S. Army Corps of Enginers · Public domainDelaware City’s library runs 39 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Delaware City Public Library serves Delaware City’s 11,083 residents. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
The short version on Delaware City’s library
49% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 49% of loans. Print still makes up 51%. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Delaware City Public Library holds 28,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Delaware City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Delaware City is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Delaware City is graded on two of the three inputs. Delaware City’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Delaware City
7.5 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Delaware City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Delaware State 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 Delaware City’s residents live; 2022.
49% of borrowing is digital
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
13,753 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Delaware City Public Library serves 11,083 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Delaware City last year.
Find it
Delaware City Public Library, 250 Fifth Street, Delaware City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Delaware City? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Delaware City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $291K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $476K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $291K 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 3,847 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Delaware City
Does Delaware City have a public library?
Yes. Delaware City Public Library, 250 Fifth Street, serves Delaware City’s 11,083 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Delaware City 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 Delaware City’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Delaware City’s civic life grade?
B+ Delaware City 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 Delaware City.
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.