Photo: Skabat169 · CC BY-SA 3.0Boyertown’s library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Boyertown Community Library serves 16,143 people in and around Boyertown. Last year it lent 174K books, movies and e-books and logged 74K visits.
Boyertown’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
70% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 19%. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Boyertown Community Library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 411 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 163 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; Boyertown Community Library serves 16,143 people in and around Boyertown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Boyertown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Boyertown is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #688 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Boyertown is graded on two of the three inputs. Boyertown’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$71K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Boyertown
3.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of Boyertown’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 Boyertown’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Boyertown Community Library serves 16,143 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Boyertown Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
174K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
19,817 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Boyertown Community Library, 24 N. Reading Ave., Boyertown.
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 Boyertown Community Library branch.
New in Boyertown? 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 $4.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boyertown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $578K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $578K 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 9,440 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boyertown | Boyertown Community Library fine-free | — | 48 | C |
| Colebrookdale Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| New Berlinville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Boyertown Community Library serves 16,143 people in and around Boyertown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Boyertown.
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 Boyertown
Does Boyertown have a public library?
Yes. Boyertown Community Library, 24 N. Reading Ave., serves 16,143 people in and around Boyertown (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Boyertown Community 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 Boyertown’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 10.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Boyertown’s civic life grade?
C Boyertown is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #688 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 Boyertown.
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.