Photo: Nicholas · CC BY 2.0Coolbaugh Township’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Pocono Mountain Public Library serves Coolbaugh Township’s 23,894 residents. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
Coolbaugh Township’s library, in brief
Pocono Mountain Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Pocono Mountain Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Pocono Mountain Public Library offered 222 programs last year, 9.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Pocono Mountain Public Library holds 61,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Coolbaugh Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Coolbaugh Township is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #1,015 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three 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 ($62K–$103K) 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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Coolbaugh Township
1.7 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 (14 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.
5.0%
5.0% of Coolbaugh 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 Coolbaugh Township’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.
Pocono Mountain Public Library serves 23,894 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 61K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
4,359 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Coolbaugh Township last year.
Find it
Pocono Mountain Public Library, 5500 Municipal Dr, Tobyhanna.
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 Coolbaugh Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coolbaugh Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $851K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $432K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $851K 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 4,869 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coolbaugh Township | Pocono Mountain Public Library fine-free | 0.9 | 39 | D− |
| Dreher Township | Newfoundland Area Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | B+ |
| Tobyhanna Township | Clymer Library Association fine-free | — | 51 | C |
| Thornhurst Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Clifton Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Lehigh Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Mount Pocono | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Gouldsboro | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Greene Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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 Coolbaugh Township
Does Coolbaugh Township have a public library?
Yes. Pocono Mountain Public Library, 5500 Municipal Dr, serves Coolbaugh Township’s 23,894 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pocono Mountain Public 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 Coolbaugh Township’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Coolbaugh Township’s civic life grade?
D− Coolbaugh Township is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1,015 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 Coolbaugh 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.