Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY 3.0East Bethlehem Township’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Fredericktown Area Public Library serves 6,714 people in and around East Bethlehem Township. Last year it lent 8,875 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,135 visits.
East Bethlehem Township’s library, in brief
Fredericktown Area Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Fredericktown Area Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
40% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 30%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Fredericktown Area Public Library offered 43 programs last year, 6.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Fredericktown Area Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Fredericktown Area Public Library serves 6,714 people in and around East Bethlehem Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind East Bethlehem Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, East Bethlehem Township is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns. East Bethlehem Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; East Bethlehem Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Fredericktown Area Public Library spends $13 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$86K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in East Bethlehem Township
2.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of East Bethlehem 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 East Bethlehem Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fredericktown Area Public Library serves 6,714 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fredericktown Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,875 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
648 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
43 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.
Find it
Fredericktown Area Public Library, 38 Water St., Fredericktown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fredericktown Area Public Library branch.
New in East Bethlehem 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 $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Bethlehem Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $89K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $152K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $89K 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 710 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Bethlehem Township | Fredericktown Area Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | C− |
| Fredericktown | Fredericktown Area Public Library fine-free | — | 44 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Morgan Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Luzerne Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Clarksville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Centerville | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Deemston | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Aaronsburg | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Millsboro | 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.
- System-wide. Fredericktown Area Public Library serves 6,714 people in and around East Bethlehem Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just East Bethlehem Township.
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 East Bethlehem Township
Does East Bethlehem Township have a public library?
Yes. Fredericktown Area Public Library, 38 Water St., serves 6,714 people in and around East Bethlehem Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fredericktown Area 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 East Bethlehem Township’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is East Bethlehem Township’s civic life grade?
C− East Bethlehem Township is ahead of 15% 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 East Bethlehem 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.