Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0Canonsburg’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Frank Sarris Public Library serves 40,053 people in and around Canonsburg. Last year it lent 118K books, movies and e-books and logged 37K visits.
Canonsburg’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
89% of the 284 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Frank Sarris Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 49%. What your card is worth ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Frank Sarris Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, below 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 54% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Frank Sarris Public Library serves 40,053 people in and around Canonsburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Canonsburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Canonsburg is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #342 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Canonsburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Canonsburg’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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Canonsburg
4.4 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Canonsburg’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 Canonsburg’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Frank Sarris Public Library serves 40,053 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 51 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Frank Sarris Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
118K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,821 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Frank Sarris Public Library, 35 N Jefferson Ave, Canonsburg.
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 Frank Sarris Public Library branch.
New in Canonsburg? 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 $3.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canonsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $565K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $565K 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 11,703 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canonsburg | Frank Sarris Public Library fine-free | — | 45 | B− |
| Chartiers Township | Chartiers-Houston Community Library fine-free | — | 35 | C− |
| North Strabane Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Strabane | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cecil Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Southpointe | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Houston | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Frank Sarris Public Library serves 40,053 people in and around Canonsburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Canonsburg.
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 Canonsburg
Does Canonsburg have a public library?
Yes. Frank Sarris Public Library, 35 N Jefferson Ave, serves 40,053 people in and around Canonsburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Frank Sarris Public 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 Canonsburg’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Canonsburg’s civic life grade?
B− Canonsburg is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #342 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 Canonsburg.
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.