Stanley · Photo: Hshuvaeva · CC BY-SA 3.0Abington Township’s library logs 4.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Abington Township Public Library serves 61,140 people in and around Abington Township from 2 locations. Last year it lent 437K books, movies and e-books and logged 297K visits.
What stands out about Abington Township Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Abington Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Abington Township is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #132 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
258 community nonprofits are registered in Abington Township
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (74 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 20 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Abington Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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 Abington Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 90 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Abington Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Abington Township Public Library serves 61,140 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
437K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
87,241 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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.
2 places to borrow in Abington Township
Abington Township Public Library, 1030 Old York Rd, Abington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Abington Township Public Library branch.
New in Abington Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Abington Township Public Library branches in Abington Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Abington Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 26,809 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Dublin Township | Upper Dublin Public Library fine-free | 15.7 | 63 | A− |
| Lower Moreland Township | Huntingdon Valley Library fine-free | 13.8 | 59 | B |
| Cheltenham Township | Elkins Park Free Library fine-free | 8.9 | 55 | B+ |
| Wyncote | Glenside Free Library fine-free | 8.9 | 52 | — graded as part of its town |
| Jenkintown | Jenkintown Library fine-free | 7.6 | 46 | A− |
| Abington Township | Abington Township Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B+ |
| Philadelphia | Free Library of Philadelphia fine-free | — | 49 | D |
| Rockledge | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Glenside | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Oreland | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| McKinley | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- System-wide. Abington Township Public Library serves 61,140 people in and around Abington Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Abington Township.
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 Abington Township
Does Abington Township have a public library?
Yes. Abington Township Public Library, 1030 Old York Rd, serves 61,140 people in and around Abington Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Abington 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 Abington Township’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Abington Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Abington Township is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #132 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. 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 Abington 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.