Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Athens’ library runs 59 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Spalding Memorial Library serves 8,451 people in and around Athens. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
Athens’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
79% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 9%. What your card is worth ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Spalding Memorial Library-Tioga Point Museum has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2000. Today’s library there has 4,169 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 502 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.8 a week 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; Spalding Memorial Library serves 8,451 people in and around Athens, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Athens’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Athens is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #201 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Athens is graded on two of the three inputs. Athens’ 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Athens
9.9 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of Athens’ 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 Athens’ residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2000
Spalding Memorial Library, 724 S Main St., Athens.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Spalding Memorial Library branch.
New in Athens? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Spalding Memorial Library-Tioga Point Museum
Spalding Memorial Library-Tioga Point Museum was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Feb 18, 2000. It is significant for its social history and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival and Classical Revival.
The Spalding Memorial Library-Tioga Point Museum is an historic library and museum building in Athens, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States. Part of the Athens Historic District, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Spalding Memorial Library serves 8,451 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Spalding Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,226 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Athens cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $318K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $720K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $318K 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 1,956 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sayre | Sayre Public Library fine-free | 5.0 | 44 | B |
| Athens | Spalding Memorial Library | — | 42 | B |
| Athens Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Greens Landing | 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.
- System-wide. Spalding Memorial Library serves 8,451 people in and around Athens, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Athens.
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 Athens
Does Athens have a public library?
Yes. Spalding Memorial Library, 724 S Main St., serves 8,451 people in and around Athens (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Spalding Memorial 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 Athens’ library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Athens’ civic life grade?
B Athens is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #201 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 Athens.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.