Photo: PopularOutcast · CC BY-SA 4.0Hawthorne’s library is a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which lends more per resident than 68% of systems its size
Hawthorne’s library is the Hawthorne Branch, a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which serves 416,905 people and lent 2M items last year.
What stands out about Hawthorne Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hawthorne’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hawthorne is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. Hawthorne is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Hawthorne’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Hawthorne
2.9 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.
8.5%
8.5% of Hawthorne’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Hawthorne’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pal Public Library Cooperative serves 416,905 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Pal Public Library Cooperative
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pal Public Library Cooperative system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Hawthorne’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 50 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
Hawthorne Branch, 6640 Southeast 221st Street, Hawthorne.
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 $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hawthorne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $22M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22M 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 240,614 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Hawthorne Branch is one branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 416,905 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 Hawthorne
Does Hawthorne have a public library?
Yes: Hawthorne Branch, 6640 Southeast 221st Street, is a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which serves 416,905 people. The branch is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pal Public Library Cooperative fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hawthorne’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hawthorne’s civic life grade?
B− Hawthorne is ahead of 45% 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 Hawthorne.
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.