Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Albion’s library lends 8.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Albion Area Public Library serves Albion’s 1,528 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,569 visits.
The short version on Albion’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
67% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 25%. What your card is worth ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Albion Area Public Library spends $36 per resident, less than 73% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still borrowed from more than 71% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Albion Area Public Library serves 1,528 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 65 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 33 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Albion’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Albion is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns. Albion’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Albion
8.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Albion’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 Albion’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
1,975 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Albion Area Public Library serves 1,528 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
65 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 Albion last year.
Find it
Albion Area Public Library, 111 East Pearl Street, Albion.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Albion? 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 $4.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Albion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $55K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $236K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $55K 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 398 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Albion
Does Albion have a public library?
Yes. Albion Area Public Library, 111 East Pearl Street, serves Albion’s 1,528 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Albion Area Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Albion’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Albion’s civic life grade?
B+ Albion is ahead of 67% 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 Albion.
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.