Photo: Textah01 · CC BY-SA 3.0Avella’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Avella Area Library Center serves 3,847 people in and around Avella. Last year it lent 880 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,186 visits.
The short version on Avella’s library
Avella Area Library Center is used less than most libraries its size
Avella Area Library Center records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
31% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 24%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Avella Area Library Center spends $13 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Avella Area Library Center serves 3,847 people in and around Avella, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Avella’s civic life grade
Avella 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Avella Area Library Center serves 3,847 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Avella Area Library Center
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Avella Area Library Center system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
880 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
50 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
40 programs a year
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
Avella Area Library Center, 11 School Court, Avella.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Avella Area Library Center branch.
New in Avella? 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 Avella cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $49K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $49K 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 201 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avella | Avella Area Library Center fine-free | — | 43 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Independence Township | Avella Area Library Center fine-free | — | 43 | A− |
| Cross Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Avella Area Library Center serves 3,847 people in and around Avella, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Avella.
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 Avella
Does Avella have a public library?
Yes. Avella Area Library Center, 11 School Court, serves 3,847 people in and around Avella (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Avella Area Library Center 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 Avella’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Avella’s civic life grade?
Avella 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 Avella.
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.