Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Cambridge Springs’ library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Cambridge Springs Public Library Association serves 7,979 people in and around Cambridge Springs. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,092 visits.
Cambridge Springs’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Cambridge Springs Public Library Association sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
44% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 40%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Cambridge Springs Public Library Association spends $12 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Cambridge Springs Public Library Association serves 7,979 people in and around Cambridge Springs, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Cambridge Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cambridge Springs is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Cambridge Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. Cambridge Springs’ 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Cambridge Springs
5.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Cambridge Springs’ 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 Cambridge Springs’ 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.
Cambridge Springs Public Library Association serves 7,979 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cambridge Springs Public Library Association system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,274 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
102 programs a year
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
Cambridge Springs Public Library Association, 158 Mcclellan St., Cambridge Springs.
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 Cambridge Springs Public Library Association branch.
New in Cambridge Springs? 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 $3.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cambridge Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $97K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $337K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $97K 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 1,212 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Cambridge Springs Public Library Association serves 7,979 people in and around Cambridge Springs, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cambridge Springs.
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 Cambridge Springs
Does Cambridge Springs have a public library?
Yes. Cambridge Springs Public Library Association, 158 Mcclellan St., serves 7,979 people in and around Cambridge Springs (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cambridge Springs Public 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 Cambridge Springs’ library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Cambridge Springs’ civic life grade?
B Cambridge Springs is ahead of 58% 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 Cambridge Springs.
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.