Blue Bell’s library lends 8.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Wissahickon Valley Public Library serves 39,216 people in and around Blue Bell. Last year it lent 378K books, movies and e-books and logged 134K visits.
What Blue Bell’s library is like
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Wissahickon Valley Public Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with four in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 1,022 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 286 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; Wissahickon Valley Public Library serves 39,216 people in and around Blue Bell, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Blue Bell’s civic life grade
Blue Bell isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
378K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
61,933 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wissahickon Valley Public Library serves 39,216 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 65 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wissahickon Valley Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 6 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
Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike, Blue Bell.
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 Wissahickon Valley Public Library branch.
New in Blue Bell? 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 $4.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blue Bell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 22,032 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Wissahickon Valley Public Library serves 39,216 people in and around Blue Bell, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Blue Bell.
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 Blue Bell
Does Blue Bell have a public library?
Yes. Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike, serves 39,216 people in and around Blue Bell (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wissahickon Valley 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 Blue Bell’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Blue Bell’s civic life grade?
Blue Bell isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Blue Bell.
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.