Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainBerwick’s library logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Mcbride Memorial Library serves 13,906 people in and around Berwick. Last year it lent 49K books, movies and e-books and logged 59K visits.
The short version on Berwick’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
71% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 5%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 119 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mcbride Memorial Library offered 119 programs last year, 8.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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; Mcbride Memorial Library serves 13,906 people in and around Berwick, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Berwick’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Berwick is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #327 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Berwick is graded on two of the three inputs. Berwick’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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in Berwick
6.1 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of Berwick’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 Berwick’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mcbride Memorial Library serves 13,906 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mcbride Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
49K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,761 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Mcbride Memorial Library, 500 Market Street, Berwick.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mcbride Memorial Library branch.
New in Berwick? 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 $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Berwick cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $487K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $833K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $487K 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 9,797 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berwick | Mcbride Memorial Library | — | 48 | B− |
| Briar Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Mifflin Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Briar Creek | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Foundryville | 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. Mcbride Memorial Library serves 13,906 people in and around Berwick, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Berwick.
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 Berwick
Does Berwick have a public library?
Yes. Mcbride Memorial Library, 500 Market Street, serves 13,906 people in and around Berwick (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mcbride 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 Berwick’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Berwick’s civic life grade?
B− Berwick is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #327 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 Berwick.
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.