Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Bethlehem’s library runs 14 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Bethlehem Area Public Library serves 118,264 people in and around Bethlehem from 2 locations. Last year it lent 355K books, movies and e-books and logged 177K visits.
The short version on Bethlehem’s library
Pennsylvania pays a big share
21% of the budget comes from the state, and 70% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
65% of the 1,614 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 404 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 95% 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; Bethlehem Area Public Library serves 118,264 people in and around Bethlehem, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bethlehem’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bethlehem is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #522 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem is graded on two of the three inputs. Bethlehem’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$86K) 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 →
372 community nonprofits are registered in Bethlehem
4.8 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 (107 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 21 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Bethlehem’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’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Bethlehem Area Public Library serves 118,264 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bethlehem Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
355K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
19,933 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
2 places to borrow in Bethlehem
Bethlehem Area Public Library, 11 West Church St., Bethlehem.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bethlehem Area Public Library branch.
New in Bethlehem? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Bethlehem Area Public Library branches in Bethlehem
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bethlehem cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 26,677 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem | Bethlehem Area Public Library | — | 55 | C+ |
| Hellertown | Hellertown Area Library | — | 44 | A |
| Allentown | Allentown Public Library | — | 61 | D |
| Hanover Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Lower Saucon Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Hanover Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Bethlehem Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Freemansburg | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Salisbury Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Middletown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Bethlehem Area Public Library serves 118,264 people in and around Bethlehem, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bethlehem.
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
Does Bethlehem have a public library?
Yes. Bethlehem Area Public Library, 11 West Church St., serves 118,264 people in and around Bethlehem (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bethlehem Area Public 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 Bethlehem’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Bethlehem’s civic life grade?
C+ Bethlehem is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #522 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.
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.