Dalton’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Dalton Community Library serves 1,760 people in and around Dalton. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,600 visits.
What Dalton’s library is like
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 74%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; Dalton Community Library serves 1,760 people in and around Dalton, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Dalton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dalton is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Dalton
3.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.8%
10.8% of Dalton’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 Dalton’s residents live; 2022.
140 programs a year
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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dalton Community Library serves 1,760 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dalton Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,021 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Dalton Community Library, 113 East Main St., Dalton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dalton Community Library branch.
New in Dalton? 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 $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dalton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $167K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $352K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $167K 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 845 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton | Dalton Community Library | — | 42 | B |
| North Abington Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Glenburn Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| West Abington Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Waverly Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| La Plume Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Dalton Community Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Dalton Community Library serves 1,760 people in and around Dalton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dalton.
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 Dalton
Does Dalton have a public library?
Yes. Dalton Community Library, 113 East Main St., serves 1,760 people in and around Dalton (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dalton 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 Dalton’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 13.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Dalton’s civic life grade?
B Dalton is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Dalton.
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.