Spannuth Mill · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Bethel Township’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library serves 7,474 people in and around Bethel Township. Last year it lent 131K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
The short version on Bethel Township’s library
A system of heavy borrowers
Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 98% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 39%. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 52% of similar-size libraries. 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; Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library serves 7,474 people in and around Bethel Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bethel Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bethel Township is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #354 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Bethel Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bethel Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Bethel Township
3.4 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Bethel Township’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 Bethel Township’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library serves 7,474 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 54 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
131K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,022 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library, 8601 Lancaster Ave, Bethel.
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 Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library branch.
New in Bethel Township? 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 $8.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bethel Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $241K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $241K 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 2,702 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel Township | Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library fine-free | — | 47 | B− |
| Tulpehocken Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Upper Tulpehocken Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Pine Grove Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Frystown | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wayne 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. Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library serves 7,474 people in and around Bethel Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bethel Township.
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 Bethel Township
Does Bethel Township have a public library?
Yes. Bethel Tulpehocken Public Library, 8601 Lancaster Ave, serves 7,474 people in and around Bethel Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bethel Tulpehocken Public 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 Bethel Township’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 17.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bethel Township’s civic life grade?
B− Bethel Township is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #354 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 Bethel Township.
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.