Carnegie Free Library Of Braddock · Photo: Christopher Rolinson · CC BY 3.0 usBraddock’s library runs 65 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Braddock Carnegie Library Association serves 13,830 people in and around Braddock. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
What Braddock’s library is like
Braddock Carnegie Library Association is used less than most libraries its size
Braddock Carnegie Library Association records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
92% of the 893 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
45% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 42%. What your card is worth ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Free Library Of Braddock has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Today’s library there has 9,889 square feet. The building ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Braddock Carnegie Library Association ran 893 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 65 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 16,000 attended. 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; Braddock Carnegie Library Association serves 13,830 people in and around Braddock, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Braddock’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Braddock is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns. Braddock is graded on two of the three inputs. Braddock’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Braddock
4.3 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.
5.6%
5.6% of Braddock’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 Braddock’s residents live; 2022.
About 16 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Braddock Carnegie Library Association serves 13,830 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Braddock Carnegie Library Association system. The library’s own count.
49% of borrowing is digital
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,198 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1973
Braddock Carnegie Library Association, 419 Library Street, Braddock.
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 Braddock Carnegie Library Association branch.
New in Braddock? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Free Library Of Braddock
Carnegie Free Library Of Braddock was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 19, 1973, and named a National Historic Landmark on Mar 2, 2012. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the national level. Its architecture is described as Richardsonian Romanesque.
The Braddock Carnegie Library in Braddock, Pennsylvania, is the first Carnegie Library in the United States. As such, the library was named a National Historic Landmark in 2012, following its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and is on the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation's List of Historic Landmarks.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Braddock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $524K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $512K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $524K 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 4,276 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braddock | Braddock Carnegie Library Association fine-free | — | 39 | C |
| North Braddock | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Rankin | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| West Mifflin | 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. Braddock Carnegie Library Association serves 13,830 people in and around Braddock, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Braddock.
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 Braddock
Does Braddock have a public library?
Yes. Braddock Carnegie Library Association, 419 Library Street, serves 13,830 people in and around Braddock (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Braddock Carnegie Library Association 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 Braddock’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Braddock’s civic life grade?
C Braddock is ahead of 34% 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 Braddock.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.