Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Pennville’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Penn Township Public Library serves 1,133 people in and around Pennville. Last year it lent 2,750 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,325 visits.
The short version on Pennville’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Penn Township Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
The Pennville branch keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Penn Township Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Penn Township Public Library serves 1,133 people in and around Pennville, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Pennville’s civic life grade
Pennville 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Penn Township Public Library serves 1,133 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Penn Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,750 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
23 programs a year
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
Penn Township Public Library, 195 North Union, Pennville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Penn Township Public Library branch.
New in Pennville? 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 $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pennville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $27K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 213 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Penn Township Public Library serves 1,133 people in and around Pennville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Pennville.
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 Pennville
Does Pennville have a public library?
Yes. Penn Township Public Library, 195 North Union, serves 1,133 people in and around Pennville (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Penn Township Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Pennville’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Pennville’s civic life grade?
Pennville 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 Pennville.
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.