Photo: Kathy from just livin' in a small town in SW PA, USA · CC BY 2.0Carmichaels’ library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Flenniken Public Library serves 11,562 people in and around Carmichaels. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What Carmichaels’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Flenniken Public Library 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
41% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 26%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 230 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Flenniken Public Library serves 11,562 people in and around Carmichaels, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Carmichaels’ civic life grade
Carmichaels 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Flenniken Public Library serves 11,562 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Flenniken Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,159 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
Flenniken Public Library, 102 East George St., Carmichaels.
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 Flenniken Public Library branch.
New in Carmichaels? 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carmichaels cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $216K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $463K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $216K 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 1,101 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmichaels | Flenniken Public Library fine-free | — | 46 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fairdale | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Flenniken Public Library serves 11,562 people in and around Carmichaels, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Carmichaels.
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 Carmichaels
Does Carmichaels have a public library?
Yes. Flenniken Public Library, 102 East George St., serves 11,562 people in and around Carmichaels (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Flenniken 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 Carmichaels’ library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Carmichaels’ civic life grade?
Carmichaels 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 Carmichaels.
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.