Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0Coatesville’s library runs 34 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Coatesville Public Library Association serves 38,319 people in and around Coatesville. Last year it lent 75K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
Coatesville’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
46% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 30%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Coatesville Public Library Association spends $9 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Coatesville Public Library Association serves 38,319 people in and around Coatesville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Coatesville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Coatesville is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #678 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Coatesville 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 ($44K–$74K) 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 →
38 community nonprofits are registered in Coatesville
2.9 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Coatesville’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 Coatesville’s residents live; 2022.
About 15 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Coatesville Public Library Association serves 38,319 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Coatesville Public Library Association system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
75K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,271 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Coatesville Area Public Library, 501 E Lincoln Highway, Coatesville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Coatesville Public Library Association branch.
New in Coatesville? 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 $3.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coatesville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $357K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $357K 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 7,422 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coatesville | Coatesville Area Public Library | — | 44 | C |
| Valley Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Hayti | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Caln Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| South Coatesville | 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. Coatesville Public Library Association serves 38,319 people in and around Coatesville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Coatesville.
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 Coatesville
Does Coatesville have a public library?
Yes. Coatesville Public Library Association, 501 E Lincoln Highway, serves 38,319 people in and around Coatesville (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coatesville Public Library Association 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 Coatesville’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Coatesville’s civic life grade?
C Coatesville is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #678 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 Coatesville.
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.