Blakely’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Valley Community Library serves 33,960 people in and around Blakely. Last year it lent 112K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
What’s behind Blakely’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Blakely is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #115 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Blakely is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Blakely’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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Blakely
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
16.4%
16.4% of Blakely’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 Blakely’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Valley Community Library serves 33,960 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Valley Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
112K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,625 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Valley Community Library, 739 River St., Peckville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Valley Community Library branch.
New in Blakely? 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 $2.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blakely cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $619K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $619K 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 8,576 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blakely | Valley Community Library | — | 47 | B+ |
| Archbald | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Olyphant | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Jessup | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Scott Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Dickson City | 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.
- System-wide. Valley Community Library serves 33,960 people in and around Blakely, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Blakely.
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 Blakely
Does Blakely have a public library?
Yes. Valley Community Library, 739 River St., serves 33,960 people in and around Blakely (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Valley Community 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 Blakely’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Blakely’s civic life grade?
B+ Blakely is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #115 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 Blakely.
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.