Photo: User:Dincher · CC BY-SA 3.0Blossburg’s library runs 46 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Blossburg Memorial Library serves 4,067 people in and around Blossburg. Last year it lent 8,293 books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What Blossburg’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
55% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 28%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 188 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 50 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; Blossburg Memorial Library serves 4,067 people in and around Blossburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Blossburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Blossburg is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. Blossburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Blossburg’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Blossburg
9.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Blossburg’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 Blossburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Blossburg Memorial Library serves 4,067 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Blossburg Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,293 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,342 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
188 programs a year
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
Blossburg Memorial Library, 307 Main St., Blossburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Blossburg Memorial Library branch.
New in Blossburg? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blossburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $132K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $191K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $132K 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 1,714 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blossburg | Blossburg Memorial Library | — | 37 | A |
| Hamilton Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bloss Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Blossburg Memorial Library serves 4,067 people in and around Blossburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Blossburg.
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 Blossburg
Does Blossburg have a public library?
Yes. Blossburg Memorial Library, 307 Main St., serves 4,067 people in and around Blossburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blossburg Memorial 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 Blossburg’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Blossburg’s civic life grade?
A Blossburg is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Blossburg.
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.