Photo: Ruhrfisch · CC BY-SA 4.0Bloomsburg’s library runs 41 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Bloomsburg Public Library serves 20,439 people in and around Bloomsburg. Last year it lent 80K books, movies and e-books and logged 102K visits.
Bloomsburg’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
77% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 8%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 842 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 193 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Bloomsburg Public Library serves 20,439 people in and around Bloomsburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bloomsburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bloomsburg is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #81 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Bloomsburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in Bloomsburg
4.8 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Bloomsburg’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 Bloomsburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bloomsburg Public Library serves 20,439 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bloomsburg Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
80K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
19,802 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Bloomsburg Public Library, 225 Market St., Bloomsburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bloomsburg Public Library branch.
New in Bloomsburg? 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 $2.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bloomsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $457K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $457K 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 9,275 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomsburg | Bloomsburg Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | A− |
| Hemlock Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Montour Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Mount Pleasant Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Fernville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rupert | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Catawissa Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Scott Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Bloomsburg Public Library serves 20,439 people in and around Bloomsburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bloomsburg.
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 Bloomsburg
Does Bloomsburg have a public library?
Yes. Bloomsburg Public Library, 225 Market St., serves 20,439 people in and around Bloomsburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bloomsburg 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 Bloomsburg’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bloomsburg’s civic life grade?
A− Bloomsburg is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #81 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 Bloomsburg.
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.