Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Carlisle’s library runs 25 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Bosler Memorial Library serves 56,574 people in and around Carlisle. Last year it lent 415K books, movies and e-books and logged 181K visits.
The short version on Carlisle’s library
Above typical on nearly every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Bosler Memorial Library is above the middle on six of the seven per-resident measures we compare, and close to it on the other, with four in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 56%. 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; Bosler Memorial Library serves 56,574 people in and around Carlisle, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Carlisle’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Carlisle is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #49 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Carlisle is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Carlisle’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 →
184 community nonprofits are registered in Carlisle
8.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Carlisle’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 Carlisle’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bosler Memorial Library serves 56,574 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 133 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bosler Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
415K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
71,182 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Bosler Memorial Library, 158 West High St., Carlisle.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bosler Memorial Library branch.
New in Carlisle? 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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carlisle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 22,121 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlisle | Bosler Memorial Library | — | 60 | A− |
| North Middleton Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| South Middleton Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| West Pennsboro Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Carlisle Barracks | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Bosler Memorial Library serves 56,574 people in and around Carlisle, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Carlisle.
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 Carlisle
Does Carlisle have a public library?
Yes. Bosler Memorial Library, 158 West High St., serves 56,574 people in and around Carlisle (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bosler Memorial 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 Carlisle’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 7.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Carlisle’s civic life grade?
A− Carlisle is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Carlisle.
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.