Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Brockway’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mengle Memorial Library serves 7,816 people in and around Brockway. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,211 visits.
The short version on Brockway’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
67% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 9%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 171 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Mengle Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Mengle Memorial Library serves 7,816 people in and around Brockway, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Brockway’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brockway is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Brockway is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Brockway’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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Brockway
5.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Brockway’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 Brockway’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mengle Memorial Library serves 7,816 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mengle Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,192 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Mengle Memorial Library, 324 Main Street, Brockway.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mengle Memorial Library branch.
New in Brockway? 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 $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brockway cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $256K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $364K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $256K 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 1,442 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mengle Memorial Library serves 7,816 people in and around Brockway, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Brockway.
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 Brockway
Does Brockway have a public library?
Yes. Mengle Memorial Library, 324 Main Street, serves 7,816 people in and around Brockway (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mengle Memorial 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 Brockway’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Brockway’s civic life grade?
A− Brockway is ahead of 75% 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 Brockway.
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.