Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Concord Township’s library lends 8.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Rachel Kohl Community Library serves Concord Township’s 21,192 residents. Last year it lent 261K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
Concord Township’s library, in brief
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 73%. People come in, pick up their books and go, or skip the trip: 32% of loans are digital. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 38,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.7 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Concord Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Concord Township is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #734 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Concord Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Rachel Kohl Community Library spends $24 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($99K–$165K) 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 →
62 community nonprofits are registered in Concord Township
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Concord 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 Concord Township’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
261K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.7 times last year, on average.
82,717 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rachel Kohl Community Library serves 21,192 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 93 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 5 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 Concord Township last year.
Find it
Rachel Kohl Community Library, 687 Smithbridge Road, Glen Mills.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Concord 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 $8.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Concord Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $502K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $502K 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 14,055 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concord Township | Rachel Kohl Community Library | 12.3 | 54 | C− |
| Aston Township | Aston Public Library | 7.5 | 51 | B |
| Chadds Ford Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Bethel Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Chester Heights | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Thornbury 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Rachel Kohl Community Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Concord Township
Does Concord Township have a public library?
Yes. Rachel Kohl Community Library, 687 Smithbridge Road, serves Concord Township’s 21,192 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rachel Kohl Community 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 Concord Township’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Concord Township’s civic life grade?
C− Concord Township is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #734 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 Concord 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.