Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0Bernville’s library lends 6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bernville Area Community Library serves 5,396 people in and around Bernville. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
Bernville’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
63% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 12%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 275 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.2 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; Bernville Area Community Library serves 5,396 people in and around Bernville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bernville’s civic life grade
Bernville 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bernville Area Community Library serves 5,396 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bernville Area Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,870 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Bernville Area Community Library, 6721 Bernville Rd., Bernville.
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 Bernville Area Community Library branch.
New in Bernville? 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 $2.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bernville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $244K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $570K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $244K 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 1,862 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernville | Bernville Area Community Library fine-free | — | 45 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Penn 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. Bernville Area Community Library serves 5,396 people in and around Bernville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bernville.
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 Bernville
Does Bernville have a public library?
Yes. Bernville Area Community Library, 6721 Bernville Rd., serves 5,396 people in and around Bernville (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bernville Area Community 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 Bernville’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bernville’s civic life grade?
Bernville 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 Bernville.
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.