Photo: TownofDarby · CC BY-SA 3.0Darby’s library logs 6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Darby Community Public Library serves 4,323 people in and around Darby. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
Darby’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 81% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 27%. The building also logs about 7 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 65 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 38 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Darby Community Public Library serves 4,323 people in and around Darby, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Darby’s civic life grade
Darby 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Darby Community Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Darby Community Public Library serves 4,323 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,717 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
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
Darby Community Public Library, 101 1/2 South Marshall Street, Darby.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Darby Community Public Library branch.
New in Darby? 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 $2.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Darby cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $88K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $237K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $88K 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 2,266 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Darby Community Public Library serves 4,323 people in and around Darby, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Darby.
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 Darby
Does Darby have a public library?
Yes. Darby Community Public Library, 101 1/2 South Marshall Street, serves 4,323 people in and around Darby (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Darby Community Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Darby’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Darby’s civic life grade?
Darby 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 Darby.
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.