Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY 3.0Bethel Park’s library runs 52 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Bethel Park Public Library serves Bethel Park’s 33,577 residents. Last year it lent 334K books, movies and e-books and logged 99K visits.
What stands out about Bethel Park’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bethel Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bethel Park is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #611 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Bethel Park’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($80K–$134K) 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 →
113 community nonprofits are registered in Bethel Park
3.4 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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Bethel Park’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 Park’s residents live; 2022.
About 21 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bethel Park last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bethel Park Public Library serves 33,577 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 113 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
334K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 82K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
91,188 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 Park Public Library, 5100 West Library Ave, Bethel Park.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bethel Park? 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 $4.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bethel Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 11,988 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bethel Park ranks 5th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Lebanon | Mt Lebanon Public Library fine-free | 22.4 | 66 | — too few inputs |
| Upper St. Clair Township | Upper St. Clair Township Library | 17.1 | 52 | B |
| Peters Township | Peters Township Public Library fine-free | 13.0 | 56 | B |
| Whitehall | Whitehall Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 50 | C− |
| Bethel Park | Bethel Park Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 57 | C |
| South Park Township | South Park Township Library | 9.0 | 48 | C |
| Castle Shannon | Community Library of Castle Shannon fine-free | 7.6 | 44 | A− |
| Baldwin | Baldwin Borough Public Library fine-free | 3.7 | 53 | C− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Park
Does Bethel Park have a public library?
Yes. Bethel Park Public Library, 5100 West Library Ave, serves Bethel Park’s 33,577 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bethel Park 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 Park’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bethel Park’s civic life grade?
C Bethel Park is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life, #611 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 Park.
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.