Photo: Georgie lennon8705 · CC BY-SA 4.0Clearfield’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library serves 16,303 people in and around Clearfield. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
Clearfield’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
85% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 2%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
80% of the 217 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% 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; Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library serves 16,303 people in and around Clearfield, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Clearfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Clearfield is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #412 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Clearfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Clearfield’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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Clearfield
4.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.3%
6.3% of Clearfield’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 Clearfield’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library serves 16,303 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,092 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
Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library, 1 South Front St., Clearfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library branch.
New in Clearfield? 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 $1.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clearfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $257K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $350K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $257K 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 2,902 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearfield | Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library | — | 46 | B− |
| Plymptonville | 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. Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library serves 16,303 people in and around Clearfield, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Clearfield.
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 Clearfield
Does Clearfield have a public library?
Yes. Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public Library, 1 South Front St., serves 16,303 people in and around Clearfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Joseph & Elizabeth Shaw Public 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 Clearfield’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Clearfield’s civic life grade?
B− Clearfield is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #412 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 Clearfield.
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.