Photo: Canadian2006 · CC BY-SA 3.0Blairsville’s library lends 5.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Blairsville Public Library serves Blairsville’s 3,214 residents. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,477 visits.
What Blairsville’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
65% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 20%. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Blairsville Public Library holds 40,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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.
What’s behind Blairsville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Blairsville is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #461 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Blairsville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Blairsville
4.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Blairsville’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 Blairsville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Blairsville Public Library serves 3,214 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 40K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
3,716 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
58 programs a year
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 Blairsville last year.
Find it
Blairsville Public Library, 113 N. Walnut St., Blairsville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Blairsville? 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 $2.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blairsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $109K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $323K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $109K 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 2,578 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Blairsville
Does Blairsville have a public library?
Yes. Blairsville Public Library, 113 N. Walnut St., serves Blairsville’s 3,214 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blairsville 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 Blairsville’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Blairsville’s civic life grade?
C+ Blairsville is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #461 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 Blairsville.
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.