Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0Cheltenham Township’s library lends 7.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Cheltenham Township Library System serves Cheltenham Township’s 37,452 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 334K books, movies and e-books and logged 150K visits.
What stands out about Cheltenham Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Cheltenham Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cheltenham Township is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #185 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Cheltenham Township’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 →
188 community nonprofits are registered in Cheltenham Township
4.9 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 (64 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 21 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Cheltenham Township’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 Cheltenham Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Cheltenham Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cheltenham Township Library System serves 37,452 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
334K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 134K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
69,032 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
4 places to borrow in Cheltenham Township
Elkins Park Free Library, 563 East Church Road, Elkins Park.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cheltenham Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Cheltenham Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cheltenham Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 13,756 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cheltenham Township ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield Township | Free Library of Springfield Township | 16.6 | 62 | B+ |
| Cheltenham Township | Elkins Park Free Library fine-free | 8.9 | 55 | B+ |
| Wyncote | Glenside Free Library fine-free | 8.9 | 52 | — graded as part of its town |
| Cheltenham Village | East Cheltenham Free Library fine-free | 8.9 | 30 | — graded as part of its town |
| Elkins Park | Elkins Park Free Library fine-free | 8.9 | 55 | — graded as part of its town |
| Jenkintown | Jenkintown Library fine-free | 7.6 | 46 | A− |
| Philadelphia | Free Library of Philadelphia fine-free | — | 49 | D |
| Abington Township | Abington Township Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B+ |
| Glenside | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| McKinley | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Wyndmoor | 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.
- 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 Cheltenham Township
Does Cheltenham Township have a public library?
Yes. Cheltenham Township Library System, 563 East Church Road, serves Cheltenham Township’s 37,452 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cheltenham Township Library System 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 Cheltenham Township’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 8.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Cheltenham Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Cheltenham Township is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #185 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 Cheltenham Township.
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.