Photo: Mvincec · Public domainBeaver Falls’ library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls serves 17,271 people in and around Beaver Falls. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
Beaver Falls’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
53% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 13%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Free Library, Beaver Falls has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. Today’s library there has 17,000 square feet. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls spends $14 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, fewer than 88% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
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; Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls serves 17,271 people in and around Beaver Falls, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Beaver Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Beaver Falls is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns, #830 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Beaver Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Beaver Falls’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls spends $14 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Beaver Falls
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Beaver Falls’ 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 Beaver Falls’ residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1985
Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls, 1301 7th Ave, Beaver Falls.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls branch.
New in Beaver Falls? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Free Library, Beaver Falls
Carnegie Free Library, Beaver Falls was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 5, 1985. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical.
The Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls is a historic Carnegie library in the city of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States. Erected as Beaver County's first library building, it was financed by Andrew Carnegie and designed by a leading Pittsburgh architect in grand architectural style that helped to redefine the image of the typical Carnegie library.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls serves 17,271 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,722 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Beaver Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $249K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $347K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $249K 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 3,964 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Brighton | New Brighton Public Library | 2.2 | 46 | C |
| Beaver Falls | Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls | — | 35 | C− |
| West Mayfield | None of its own | — | — | D |
| White Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Big Beaver | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Daugherty Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| North Sewickley Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Eastvale | 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. Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls serves 17,271 people in and around Beaver Falls, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Beaver Falls.
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 Beaver Falls
Does Beaver Falls have a public library?
Yes. Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls, 1301 7th Ave, serves 17,271 people in and around Beaver Falls (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls 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 Beaver Falls’ library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Beaver Falls’ civic life grade?
C− Beaver Falls is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns on civic life, #830 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 Beaver Falls.
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.