Reading Township’s library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Rising City Community Library serves Reading Township’s 510 residents. Last year it lent 412 books, movies and e-books and logged 717 visits.
What Reading Township’s library is like
Rising City Community Library is used less than most libraries its size
Rising City Community Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Rising City Community Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Rising City Community Library serves 510 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Rising City Community Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Reading Township’s civic life grade
Reading Township 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rising City Community Library serves 510 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Rising City Community Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
412 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 3,169 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
118 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
31 programs a year
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 Reading Township last year.
Find it
Rising City Community Library, 250 Garhan Avenue, Rising City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Reading Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Reading Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $21K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7,588 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $21K 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 74 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Township | Rising City Community Library fine-free | 0.8 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Summit Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Read Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Union Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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 Reading Township
Does Reading Township have a public library?
Yes. Rising City Community Library, 250 Garhan Avenue, serves Reading Township’s 510 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rising City Community 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 Reading Township’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Reading Township’s civic life grade?
Reading Township 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 Reading Township.
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.