Photo: Dincher · CC BY-SA 3.0East Buffalo Township’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Public Library for Union County serves 30,283 people in and around East Buffalo Township. Last year it lent 215K books, movies and e-books and logged 96K visits.
What stands out about Public Library for Union County
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind East Buffalo Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, East Buffalo Township is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #20 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. East Buffalo Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in East Buffalo Township
5.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
10.7%
10.7% of East Buffalo 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 Buffalo Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Public Library for Union County serves 30,283 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Public Library for Union County system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
215K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,359 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
Find it
Public Library for Union County, 255 Reitz Blvd, Lewisburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Public Library for Union County branch.
New in East Buffalo 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 $3.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Buffalo Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 9,566 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 Buffalo Township | Public Library for Union County | — | 54 | A |
| Lewisburg | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Buffalo Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| West Chillisquaque Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Point Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Linntown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Union 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.
- System-wide. Public Library for Union County serves 30,283 people in and around East Buffalo Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just East Buffalo 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 Buffalo Township
Does East Buffalo Township have a public library?
Yes. Public Library for Union County, 255 Reitz Blvd, serves 30,283 people in and around East Buffalo Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Public Library for Union County 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 East Buffalo Township’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is East Buffalo Township’s civic life grade?
A East Buffalo Township is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 East Buffalo 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.