Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli from Pennsylvania, USA · CC BY 2.0Chestnuthill Township’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Western Pocono Community Library serves 32,267 people in and around Chestnuthill Township. Last year it lent 86K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
The short version on Chestnuthill Township’s library
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 415 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Western Pocono Community Library serves 32,267 people in and around Chestnuthill Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Chestnuthill Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chestnuthill Township is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #666 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Chestnuthill Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($67K–$112K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
47 community nonprofits are registered in Chestnuthill Township
2.8 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 (13 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.
7.0%
7.0% of Chestnuthill 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 Chestnuthill Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Western Pocono Community Library serves 32,267 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Western Pocono Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
86K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,010 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Western Pocono Community Library, 131 Pilgrim Way, Brodheadsville.
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 Western Pocono Community Library branch.
New in Chestnuthill Township? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chestnuthill Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $706K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $706K 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 6,172 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chestnuthill Township | Western Pocono Community Library fine-free | — | 56 | C |
| Polk Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Tunkhannock Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Jackson Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Indian Mountain Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Ross Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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. Western Pocono Community Library serves 32,267 people in and around Chestnuthill Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chestnuthill Township.
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 Chestnuthill Township
Does Chestnuthill Township have a public library?
Yes. Western Pocono Community Library, 131 Pilgrim Way, serves 32,267 people in and around Chestnuthill Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Western Pocono Community 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 Chestnuthill Township’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Chestnuthill Township’s civic life grade?
C Chestnuthill Township is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #666 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 Chestnuthill 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.