Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Bethlehem Township has no public library of its own; the nearest is Palmer Library in Easton, 3.4 miles away
Bethlehem Township doesn’t have a public library of its own. The closest is Palmer Library in Easton, 3.4 miles away. Many small-town libraries give cards to neighbors, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
DCivic lifeAhead of 12% of U.S. towns · #940 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Nonprofits and volunteering.Getting a library card from Bethlehem Township
Bethlehem Township borrows from the libraries next door
Bethlehem Township has no public library of its own, but four libraries are within 10 miles, the closest being Palmer Library in Easton (3.4 miles). Many small-town libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead. Nearest libraries ↓
Bethlehem Township isn’t the only town nearby without one
Middletown, Freemansburg and Lower Saucon Township don’t have a public library of their own either. Among the towns next door, Bethlehem (Bethlehem Area Public Library), Palmer Township (Palmer Library) and Easton (Easton Area Public Library) do. Libraries next door ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Distances are straight-line from the town center.
What’s behind Bethlehem Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bethlehem Township is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #940 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($89K–$149K) 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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Bethlehem Township
2.0 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem Township’s residents live; 2022.
The closest is 3.4 miles away
Closest first, measured from the center of Bethlehem Township. Each one’s hours, and whether it charges late fines.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem | Bethlehem Area Public Library | — | 55 | C+ |
| Palmer Township | Palmer Library fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Easton | Easton Area Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| Middletown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Freemansburg | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Lower Saucon Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Lower Nazareth Township | None of its own | — | — | 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 Bethlehem Township
Does Bethlehem Township have a public library?
No. The closest is Palmer Library in Easton, 3.4 miles from the town center. Many libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
What is Bethlehem Township’s civic life grade?
D Bethlehem Township is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #940 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 Bethlehem 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.