Photo: User:Smallbones on English Wikipedia. · Public domainBroomall’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Marple Public Library serves 24,214 people in and around Broomall. Last year it lent 287K books, movies and e-books and logged 100K visits.
The short version on Broomall’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 58% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
32% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 61%. What your card is worth ↓
Broomall is a town of borrowers
Marple Public Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Marple Public Library serves more than Broomall
The library’s service area covers 24,214 people in and around Broomall, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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.
What’s behind Broomall’s civic life grade
Broomall 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 →
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Marple Public Library serves 24,214 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 94 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
287K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 86K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
37,581 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Marple Public Library, Sproul & Springfield Rds, Broomall.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Broomall? 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 $4.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Broomall cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $909K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $909K 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 6,683 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Broomall borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broomall | Marple Public Library | 11.8 | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Marple Township | Marple Public Library | 11.8 | 59 | C+ |
| Haverford Township | Haverford Township Free Library | 5.5 | 56 | B− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Broomall
Does Broomall have a public library?
Yes. Marple Public Library, Sproul & Springfield Rds, serves 24,214 people in and around Broomall (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marple Public 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 Broomall’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Broomall’s civic life grade?
Broomall 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 Broomall.
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.