Zeta Psi Fraternity House · Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0Easton’s library lends 2.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Easton Area Public Library serves 69,439 people in and around Easton. Last year it lent 201K books, movies and e-books and logged 176K visits.
Easton’s library, in brief
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 1,049 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 9 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Easton Area Public Library serves 69,439 people in and around Easton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Easton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Easton is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #518 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Easton is graded on two of the three inputs. Easton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$87K) 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 →
146 community nonprofits are registered in Easton
4.9 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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.3%
5.3% of Easton’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 Easton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Easton Area Public Library serves 69,439 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Easton Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
201K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
33,056 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 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
Easton Area Public Library, 515 Church St., Easton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Easton Area Public Library branch.
New in Easton? 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 $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Easton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 10,613 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phillipsburg | Phillipsburg Free Public Library fine-free | 2.0 | 53 | C |
| Easton | Easton Area Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| Palmer Township | Palmer Library fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Wilson | Mary Meuser Memorial Library fine-free | — | 44 | D− |
| Williams Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Forks Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Glendon | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chestnut Hill | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lower Saucon Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Lopatcong Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Old Orchard | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Easton Area Public Library serves 69,439 people in and around Easton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Easton.
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 Easton
Does Easton have a public library?
Yes. Easton Area Public Library, 515 Church St., serves 69,439 people in and around Easton (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Easton 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 Easton’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Easton’s civic life grade?
C+ Easton is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #518 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 Easton.
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.